I read with great interest the Conservative parliamentary candidate’s letter in your publication last week claiming to have been the first to call for the return of one hour’s free parking in Wiltshire’s car parks.

Putting aside the hypocrisy of this statement, considering it was her own Conservative colleagues who stripped the county of this in the first place, it is also a huge insult to the thousands of local residents who protested against the cut back in 2010.

Perhaps she is confused as she was still licking her wounds following her defeat at the ballot box following her unsuccessful effort to get elected to parliament in Yorkshire that year.

Likewise, maybe she missed the fully costed proposals put forward by the Liberal Democrats at the 2011 and 2012 annual council budget meetings to reintroduce one hour’s free parking. This is understandable perhaps considering the pressures and stresses of moving such a long distance and trying to establish yourself in a new community.

Whatever the reasons, I welcome the Conservative candidate’s final acceptance that the Liberal Democrats and the thousands of Wiltshire residents who protested the reckless decision to scrap one hour’s free parking were right all along, and hope that she will continue to support this key, long- established Liberal Democrat policy.

Cllr Jon Hubbard, Leader, Wiltshire Council Liberal Democrats.