I WOULD like to warn people about parking in Southampton. Recently I went into the city centre and all car parks were full except NCP at Portland Terrace. I know that parking there is more expensive but I didn't realise how much more! Their charges are 80p per quarter of an hour.

I parked for just under two hours resulting in a charge of £6.40 - extortion or what! I was horrified. I could not see the charges displayed anywhere until pointed out to me by an attendant, written in Dymo tape on a tiny sign that you cannot read from a car. The attendant also told me that they have increased their charges this week - so much for the season of goodwill!

I know parking in Southampton has never been cheap but this is beyond a joke. The previous day I used an NCP car park in Portsmouth where I was charged £1.40 for two hours, which gave me a false sense of security, as I wrongly presumed their prices in two cities so close would be similar - wrong! You have been warned.

J BOLWELL, Southampton.