I have witnessed one of the daftest pieces of officialdom yet.

As I walked along Banbury Road, Oxford, a parking attendant had just ticketed two cars parked outside the Summertown shops.

Nothing unusual, except there were only about five cars in the parking area, which takes 20 or more, and it was 4.30pm on Easter Monday, a Bank Holiday.

The shops were closed and any parked cars appeared to be doing no harm.

As I got closer, one of the drivers returned and asked why she had been given a ticket. "Because you have been here more that 30 minutes and it's a Monday," said the attendant.

Don't get me wrong, I am generally in favour of parking attendants.

They help traffic flow and prevent people hogging spaces, but I fail to see what possible benefit this action had but to extract £40 from each of the hapless motorists and further alienate the public.

Unusually for me, I spoke to the attendant and asked why he had done this when he had full discretion.

He looked embarrassed and sheepish and repeated that the car had been there for more than 30 minutes.

I asked him if he could use his discretion and he said he could, but he wouldn't.

I hope the attendant is sufficiently embarrassed and that the company controlling the parking franchise in Oxford has a shred of decency and returns the fines imposed to the motorists involved.

I was not one of the ticketed drivers.

DAVID WILKINSON

Islip Road

Oxford