I SYMPATHISE very much with Jenny Hancock and her comments about the misuse of disabled parking spaces by trade vehicles.

She sounds as though she had a tough time and that is not fair to someone in her position.

These spaces have a particular purpose and should be respected.

On the other hand I can to some extent understand why this sort of abuse happens.

One does not have to look very hard to witness the abuse of the Blue Badge scheme for genuinely disabled drivers.

Waiting for the bus outside the cinema is a great place to see people arrive across the road with their Blue Badged cars and hop out of the car with nary a limp or by-your-leave. On occasions it seems there are more able Blue Badgers than disabled.

I cannot believe I am the only one to notice this and I'm sure some of those parked tradesmen have a similar viewpoint and consequent reduced respect.

There is a situation here that needs to be addressed by the Wiltshire Council to ensure more rigorously that only appropriately disabled people have blue badges, that the present users are monitored more closely and that all Blue Badges are checked for validity at suitable intervals.

If we can trust the system then we can respect the users.

Richard Avery

Salisbury