Letter to the editor: I was half expecting the April 10 edition of News Shopper to confess the front page of the April 3 edition, the edition nearest to April 1, was an April Fool (The Wrong Good Friday, News Shopper, April 3).

It almost defies belief parking wardens were instructed to issue a penalty charge in blatant defiance of the concession permitting free parking on bank holidays, leaving motorists to go through the process of formally contesting notices if they wished to avoid payment.

Is it being unduly cynical to suspect the notices were issued in the hope and expectation the motorists would simply pay up rather than go through the laborious process of confronting them?

News Shopper has, over a period of some time now, regularly published articles, and letters from the public critical of the use of the penalty charge notices, highlighting the inquisition and often farcical circumstances which have led to their issue.

This latest report is one more extreme example. We have surely reached the stage where the council’s use of penalty charge notices must be seriously questioned. Are they genuinely being used to curb parking offences or raise revenue?

DJ Hearn, Norfolk Gardens, Bexleyheath