SIR - I feel like Mrs Angry (or should that be Mrs Ashamed?) of Sidmouth!

I am furious with the district council for issuing a parking ticket to a car that had been left in a place of safety during to the recent local flooding.

Mandy O’Donnell, who had been working an early morning shift in Sidmouth, was finding it too hazardous to return home in her small car.

She very sensibly decided to leave her car in the car park in Sidford (having no cash on her, she apparently left an explanatory note on the windscreen), got home safely with the help of someone in a four-wheel drive vehicle, and returned to collect her car as soon as the flood waters subsided.

To make matters worse, Mrs O’Donnell is currently undergoing medical care because of a knee problem, and her husband, who accompanied her to collect her car as soon as the flood waters subsided, is disabled.

This is not the way to treat people when a genuine emergency is underway. We were all witness to the awful flooding, when most of the major routes out of Sidmouth were virtually impassable, especially to small vehicles.

Surely, the district council must think again, cancel this invidious charge, and apologise to Mrs O’Donnell.

Mrs Jo Johnstone, Temple Cottage, Temple Street, Sidmouth