ANOTHER Sunday visit to Whitby and, unlike a recent experience in Morecambe, where there seemed to be acres of space, the same old performance in trying to find a parking slot.

The ideal way to visit Whitby, of course, would be to leave the car in Middlesbrough or Great Ayton and travel by train across the picturesque North York Moors, if only there were some sort of remotely acceptable service on the Sabbath.

The plain truth, though, is that most people choose to go the whole hog by car and Whitby just doesn't seem to be coping with the demand generated by publicity.

On one of the hottest Sundays of the year the harbour side pay and display parks were impossible, temporary overspill areas seemed to fill up as soon as they were opened, and by a stroke of luck Spectator found a space high on the West Cliff only after seeing cars dumped cheek by jowl in every available side street as well as on some decidedly dodgy corners.

Scarborough Borough Council must be raking in the cash from Whitby's designated car parks, where charges are among the highest that Spectator has ever encountered in North Yorkshire and the direction of travel is not even marked by arrows so that you avoid a collision with other frustrated drivers only by chance.

As far as Spectator can see, however, none of that revenue is being spent on trying permanently to improve what is becoming an increasingly chaotic situation. Whitby's an enchanting town where Spectator could readily live and work, but it's the only place he knows where as a visitor he becomes completely wound up before he even gets out of the car.

If anybody at the borough council is working, to use a modern buzzword, on a long-term parking strategy for Whitby, Spectator would dearly like to know.

Don't waste a penny

A THROWAWAY line heard on the national news last week was about the latest in our throw-away society - the penny. Apparently, some organisation wants the penny to go the way of the halfpenny, farthing and groat. Imagine the high street cheers as all those £1.99s are rounded up, and it is true that small change is unwanted by some sections of the population.

A householder this year gave a charity collector an envelope heavy with coins. Surprised and pleased, the collector was told that the householder routinely uses a shopping parade, much frequented by the young, and where small change is discarded as being of no value.

The householder retrieves the cash and hands it over to the next charity that comes knocking.