Madam,

I refer to the letter from A Deamer headlined ‘Gestapo would have been proud’ (Cambrian News, 24 November) about a parking ticket.

Contrary to this comparison, to my knowledge, no Ceredigion motorist has so far been detained and tortured, transported to a concentration camp or summarily executed as a result of committing a traffic offence in the county. If they have we need to know.

Anyone who reads the news will be aware that there is an unfortunate trend in some political circles towards wild and disproportionate abuse of public servants. Some may regard a spot of hyperbole on a letters page as all part of the lively and entertaining tapestry of robust debate and the response we’re making now could be seen as an over-sensitive reaction to that. However, the kind of language used in this instance has a real effect on local staff.

Two years ago Ceredigion held the largest public consultation into traffic orders (yellow lines etc) ever seen in the county. The current regulations can therefore be demonstrated by the responses received to reflect a broad public consensus based on the obvious need to maintain safety, facilitate traffic flow and promote a turnover of limited town centre street parking spaces in order to support traders. Certainly, when, a few years ago, there was no enforcement for a spell, there was a strong public demand for its re-introduction.

Debate and disgruntlement are the natural currency of any letters page. Hate speech should not be. If this kind of description of ordinary local people doing their job on behalf of the community were to become the accepted norm then we would be likely to see increasing recruitment difficulties potentially leading to a further breakdown of services in a public sector already facing huge financial challenges.

Healthy debate is to be encouraged, but the recent letter crossed a line. Let’s make sure that we all stay on the right side of it in future. A Merry Christmas to all.

Yours etc

Alun Williams

Cabinet Member for Transport

Ceredigion Council; Owain Davies, secretary, Unison Ceredigion.