I received the following report from a visitor to Keswick (Allerdale District Council) and from other comments I have seen this is not an isolated incident. I know of someone who has switched a group booking from Keswick to Yorkshire because of similar treatment. Remember that there are lots of other places in the Lake District to visit so I would suggest that you give Keswick a miss if you are travelling by car. Ambleside, for example, is much more visitor friendly.

Welcome to Keswick - NOT!

I and my family have been regular visitors to the Keswick area for nearly 30 years. However, we will now be visiting areas other than Keswick in the future due to a recent incident which resulted in my receiving a parking notice for parking two inches over the white line in an empty car park on a cold winters' afternoon!!!

I will pay the fixed penalty notice (reluctantly) but have decided that this ridiculous situation should be brought to the attention of:

- Other visitors to Keswick - beware the car parking attendants!

- Local businesses in Keswick - are you aware you are losing business?
(See the Allerdale Council web site forum)

- Allerdale Council - do the receipts from car parking cover the costs of the Parking Services Department?

I received the Parking Notice in the Lakeside Car Park on the afternoon of Friday 14th January. I had paid for a ticket and was amazed to see the penalty notice on my windscreen on returning to my car. The car park must be capable of taking 500 cars but there were about 15 cars parked there that cold afternoon.

To receive a penalty notice for not parking exactly between the white lines is absolutely crazy. When I raised an objection with the Parking Services Department I was met with the typical bureaucratic response of 'rules are rules and must be obeyed'. This, together with the almost military style of the car parking attendants' uniforms is not what I would call welcoming!!

Maybe in the summer the number of visitors is such that this problem can be ignored. I would have thought that Keswick would try harder to attract visitors in the winter months and that this problem needs to be addressed.

Meanwhile we will be going to Wales or Yorkshire where hopefully we will receive a warmer welcome.