Drawing the line at disfiguring old city streets

sir – New double yellow lines have recently been painted over the cobbles of one of Oxford’s more iconic streets.

It is surely time we devised a less grotesque way to advertise parking restrictions, not just in Oxford but across the country. Other European countries manage traffic restrictions in historic city centres without such visual vandalism. Foreign tourists express surprise that we are so careless in our treatment of the townscapes they have come to see.

Attractive cities are national assets that need to be cared for. Mark Whittow

Oxford

In a right puddle: a glimpse of Bristol is reflected in water on the yellow-lined cobbles