MY girlfriend is currently working as a full-time apprentice at a hairdressers in Coleford. Current pay levels set out by the Government limits the amount of pay she receives to £2.50 an hour.

The newly introduced and controversial car parking fees seem to have little impact on some shoppers who park for an hour or two a week, but for those like my girlfriend this can cost £10 a week.

My girlfriend does not live on or near the bus route to Coleford and she has no colleagues at a suitable distance to car share. She is left with little option but to pay the car parking fees.

On a take-home wage of £80 for nearly 40 hours a week this car parking charge accounts for around 12.5 percent of her wage. Never mind, surely you're rewarded for using the car park on a regular basis? With a cheaper ticket? No such luck as this works out the same amount.

For youngsters of the Forest of Dean trying to carve open opportunities and pathways into local employment you can understand their lack of incentive and a degree of reluctance to enter employment with such little reward.?Is this really the way to inspire the generation who will be making significant contributions in taxes to look after the aging generations who went before them? Surely we should be trying to encourage the next generation not alienating ourselves from them?

– Chris Forster, Lydney.