CHEPSTOW'S parking problems keep getting worse, highlighted by an appeal for action from an open letter to the police.

The letter, addressed to the Chief Constable of Gwent Police was written by town resident Cliff Sadler, who sent a copy to the Beacon.

It said: "Dear Sir,

"This is a plea that I know will be endorsed by every disabled badge holder in the county.

"Is it possible, please, for you to do something to enforce the parking restrictions on disabled bays in the county?

"In many areas, particularly Chepstow which concerns me personally, the disabled parking is used virtually indiscriminately by perfectly active drivers.

"It is now almost impossible to find a vacant disabled bay because they are mostly taken up by people who have no disability.

"The local drivers all know that the town has no traffic warden and that they can park there with virtual immunity.

"They simply use the disabled bays as a means of avoiding the parking charges.

"The disabled parking in Bank Street, for instance, has now become little more than a free parking area for the customers of Lloyd's Bank.

"I am a former chief reporter of the Western Mail's Monmouthshire News Bureau. Sadly now disabled, I am well aware of the power of the press.

"An announcement by you that you are clamping down on the situation would be a help.

"It is universally accepted that a law that is not enforced is a very bad law because it brings the whole rule of law into disrepute.

"I ask you, please, on behalf of of all the disabled badge holders in the county, to enforce this one."

Mr Sadler is in his 90s and suffers from a hole in the heart.

This forces him to stop walking to catch his breath regularly, even during a short walk.

It makes the disabled parking bays about the town vital and wants the police to enforce the parking rules.

The fine for illegal blue badge parking is a maximum £1,000, but with no traffic warden to enforce the rule, this is not enough to put some drivers off.

Mr Sadler's letter follows on from an item on the agenda at Chepstow Town Council's last meeting asking for a traffic warden to be reintroduced to the town, or for similar solutions to be looked at.