PARKING in the Ivy Street car park in Blackburn recently, I was overcome by my "grumpy old motorist" mode.

Visiting the out-patients departments regularly, I know I rarely complete my visit in under an hour and am forced into paying £2.50 for the one to two hour privilege of parking I probably won't need but must pay for.

As I muttered to myself that this was not doing a Scotman's blood pressure much good I was hit by the double whammy in that I didn't have the correct change and it would cost me another 50p.

The bright red "no change given" sign matched the red mist swirling behind my eyes. This "tough luck" attitude epitomises the local and central government attitude to the motorist as they bury their greedy snouts in our wallets right up to their ears.

If it costs me 60 to 70 per cent more to park to get to a hospital appointment than it does to park in the town centre, I can only appreciate that parking in the new Queens Park costs £1.50 for three hours.

However, this "no change given" sign on both local authority and hospital meters leads me to question, where does all the "no change given" change go?

Perhaps other readers could consider a suitable charity our reluctantly given cash could be donated to other than the bottomless Local Authority money pit our finances get sucked into. As long as it's not another £50,000 light bulb or another piece of artistic scrap.

JOHN CRAMSIE, Downham Street, Blackburn.