In an open letter to Falmouth Harbour Commissioners, Ross Durkin, from Porkellis, questions the wisdom of appointing the company which operates Customs House Quay car park.

"I am writing to you on the assumption that as finance manager for Falmouth Harbour Commissioners you were in some way involved in the decision to appoint Civil Enforcement Ltd to administer parking charges on Customs House Quay.

"The question I have to ask is, what on earth were you thinking about when you appointed this company? Their business model is clearly predicated on gaining the maximum possible revenue from wrongly-issued Parking Charge Notices and threatening people who have done nothing wrong.

"In July this year my wife waited in her car on the quay for 19 minutes while her 89-year-old mother returned some goods to Trago. Several days later she received a letter threatening court action if the sum of £56 was not paid within 14 days - a figure grossly out of proportion to the £1.00 fee that she would have paid if actually parked there.

"A letter appealing this charge was sent to Civil Enforcement on 6th August. However, she has not had the courtesy of a reply. Now, she has received a further letter demanding £100 which will continue to escalate etc, etc.

"Fortunately we are not intimidated by this sort of threatening behaviour and will go through the correct channels to get the PCN dropped. However, I'm sure the company concerned relies heavily on threatening people with various levels of enforcement to scare them into paying.

"There are so many reports on the internet and in the local papers about (un)Civil Enforcement's sharp practices that I cannot for one minute understand why they were appointed by the Harbour Commissioners. Did you not look into them and their reputation before making your decision, or was it simply a case of letting the job out to the highest bidder?

"Shame on whoever signed this contract."

Ross Durkin

Porkellis