LAST Saturday I was in Ealing shopping. I travelled all the way from Edgware by car looking for a specialist shop when I could have gone to central London. I was also hoping to do some further shopping whilst in Ealing.

I was disappointed that I was not able to stay more than one hour, as I could happily have spent two hours or more spending my money in your local community if I had not been pressed for time.

To add to my disappointment, the meter was unable to give me change for my one-hour stay, so I had to sacrifice 20p that would have covered my extended stay of a few minutes.

Nevertheless, 20p is not a huge amount for somebody who was on the verge of visiting a book shop, a jewellers and shops looking for at least three birthday gifts. That is a loss of at least £100 revenue for your local community.

How many more hundreds of pounds has the community lost in this time of economic hardship due to punitive parking restrictions?

I won't be shopping in Ealing again. I may be one person and just a statistic but if you add up all the statistics it is your community which is losing out.

The lovely ladies who served me in Marks and Spencer, local ladies, commented on how they have seen a loss in trade and this leads them to be fearful for their jobs. Big investors like M&S will move out if it is not economically viable for them to stay.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED