Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough

As a lifelong (60 year) resident in the Slough locality, I recently made the terrible mistake of visiting a once vibrant shopping centre at the heart of town.

Whilst en route, I encountered a plethora of potholes, malfunctioning and broken traffic lights, street furniture, and fading, sometimes non-existent road markings: just some of the many consequences of local government (Labour) bankrupting the town by £3/4 billion in recent years.

I compounded my mistake by parking in the car park serving the Queensmere Shopping Centre.

The car park and walkways serving it stank of urine, the lifts did not work and have not done for some considerable time, evidenced by tacky old notices attached to them with sticky tape, indicative of no intention to fix things.

It makes one wonder that the operators of this dilapidated shopping centre may be in breach of legislation protecting the needs of both people with disabilities and the elderly, not to mention the needs of parents with pushchairs and shopping.

Assuming you make the mistake of parking and shopping at the Queensmere, as I did, you find that as well as being poorly lit, the car park is now completely digital and described as ‘ticketless’ as it uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

Whilst there was no problem entering the car park, when trying to leave, I found myself trapped by technology.

Having no ticket, as one was not issued in the first place, the ANPR at the exit barrier recognised my car index, demanded £1 on screen, and promptly failed to accept payment using my perfectly valid bank card, which thankfully I had in addition to cash, as that’s no longer a means of payment.

I repeatedly pressed the onscreen 'Help' symbol on the barrier payment machine, which, predictably perhaps, met with no response.

So, it was a case of hazard lights on, wait to reverse my car, then hope and pray that the adjacent exit barrier and payment machine functioned properly.

Thankfully, it did, and I managed to free myself from a digital car park – cum- prison and the worst shopping experience in the entire Western World.

Queensmere Shopping Centre clearly now mirrors the broken town it purports to ser ve.

Go shopping in Slough?

I suggest not, as Queensmere is definitely best viewed from your car's rearview mirror!

After my recent shopping experience, observation of significant local decline and ever-increasing crime, (particularly knife crime / murder - Slough now being the most dangerous town in Berkshire, & 33rd most dangerous in the UK), is it finally time to move, leaving my hometown in my personal rear-view mirror?

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough, ’tis unfit for humans now!

GORDON MOFFATT Marish ward