SIR – For the benefit of all patients and visitors attending hospitals, I would like to bring the following facts to their attention.

I have been officially informed that the BRI, for example, has never tried to recover an unpaid parking ticket because they know that such an action in the civil courts would fail, so all the tickets they issue are a misleading bluff on the general public.

Rightly or wrongly, the hospitals’ no smoking policies are merely statements and cannot be legally enforced. The no smoking laws apply to enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces only.

It’s similar to councils declaring nuclear-free zones – it makes them feel good, but is actually meaningless.

In these times of restricted civil liberties and attempts to deceive and intimidate the public, I think that the unfortunate sick attending hospitals and their visitors are entitled not to be conned out of their money via dubious parking fines and also not to be made to feel guilty about smoking in the hospital grounds.

I am not advocating smoking or civil disobedience, but I do believe that hospital car parking fines amount to legal extortion, and that trying to represent that a law applies where it doesn’t is taking advantage of public trust and is to be deplored.

John Simes, Roundhill Close, Clayton Heights