Thanks to everyone who responded. I still intend to write to Lewisham and while I will not exactly be able to claim Forest Hill residents are up in arms over this issue, there are some who share my view that the signage could be clearer.

In excess of 1,200 people received a penalty notice last year for failing to display a ticket in a car park where it is free for two hours - something is not quite right (accepting that the onus is on the user to ensure they abide by the parking regs whatever they may be).

I propose to invite the parking department to review the signage at both Pearcefield Avenue and Perry Vale.

The cynic in me suspects it is not in the council's interest to change anything because these penalty notices generate a lot of easy revenue but let's see what they say.

And as Jane2 says, we should be encouraging people to come to Forest Hill to enjoy the shops and facilities and not welcome them with a parking ticket (which is what happened to me the very first day I moved into my new home in FH!)