After the first letter appeared in The Comet a few weeks ago from a young student nurse with regards being ineligible for staff parking places, I wrote to my MP Peter Lilley with this concern. As a result, I was sent a copy of the letter he received from

After the first letter appeared in The Comet a few weeks ago from a young student nurse with regards being ineligible for staff parking places, I wrote to my MP Peter Lilley with this concern. As a result, I was sent a copy of the letter he received from the chief executive of the East and North Herts NHS Trust answering my concern.

The letter confirmed the ineligibility of the student nurses on placement to use staff parking; it goes on to explain that to endeavour to alleviate parking problems and to reduce the impact of the environment, the Trust has developed a green travel plan that hopes to encourage staff and the public to walk, cycle or use the public transport.

Unfortunately, for these nurses, the public transport is not programmed to suit their times or the locations of the various villages and towns near and far where many nurses live or lodge. I have replied pointing this out, and also that it is not advisable to encourage the many young nurses to walk or cycle from outlying districts, particularly early and late, given road conditions and other modern dangers.

What should be unacceptable is the parking by other members of staff for as little as approximately £1 to £5 a week, according to salary, whilst the low paid student nurses pay £6 a day to use the public car parks.

Until the proposed multi-storey car park is built perhaps more of the visitors' car parking places should be allocated to these student nurses either free, or at least a charge commensurate with their low salary.

IVAN MARTIN, The Limes, Hitchin

* I thoroughly support student nurse Rebecca Bourne's protest over pernicious car parking charges at the Lister Hospital (The Comet letters, January 10). These are, of course, aided and abetted by our local authority's extravagant double yellow lining of adjacent roadways.

Can you imagine what would have happened if our local industries had adopted the same mean practice; an instant walk out of all personnel a likely consequence. The Lister management is no doubt cynically relying on the reluctance to walk out by its caring and underpaid staff.

It is absolutely disgusting that the hospital should tax the sick, disabled, visitors and its own staff with car parking charges at all. Even more strange is the fact that a modern multi-service hospital was built in the first place with such inadequate car parking space.

It is a sad fact of life that hospitals and local authorities have seized upon car parking as a lucrative source of income from motorists who are already taxed to the hilt in this country.

My advice to Rebecca is to find herself another job with an employer who has respect for her.

PERCY WESTON, Wildwood Lane, Stevenage