I THINK you should notify your readers about the new Marks & Spencer in Trowbridge, that customers need to display a ticket in their car when parking.

I am visiting from overseas and heard there was a new Marks foodstore in town so asked my cousin if she could drive me there.

We had just arrived from Canada on Sunday, July 16 and went to the store on July 17.

Once we found how to get into the parking area we parked in the first spot, avoiding the handicapped parking, did our grocery shopping and departed in 37 minutes.

To our great surprise a parking ticket for £48 arrived a week later saying if we could produce receipts we can appeal. Who keeps a cash receipt for a week? Maybe if we received the ticket the same day we would have receipts.

I went and talked to a manager at Marks & Spencer today and was told to contact the parking company in Birmingham and that this has happened to 100 or so people and that Marks has got the parking company to put an employee on duty for a week to warn people.

Where we parked there was a sign saying to display a ticket I discovered today but it is so high up a pole we did not see it.

Apparently shoppers are entitled to three hours’ free parking, so why bother ticketing people who have been 36 minutes? If this goes to court M&S agreed to provide support. They have CCTV to prove we were shopping. So why waste everyone’s time, surely they will not take this to court?

I live in Canada and New Zealand and have never had to display anything at a supermarket for parking. Surely in this day and age they can simplify our grocery shopping and stop trying to rip people off.

Christine Walker

c/o Wendy Evans

Union Street

Trowbridge