I am one confused member of the Third Age Club.

My friends say they are glad I have finally faced up to the situation and have suggested various cures, most of which seem to involve something nasty like exercise, while my enemies say it is a good thing I have at last caught up with my reputation.

The cause of the confusion?

The attitude of the city council in relation to travelling into Brighton and Hove for shopping, eating out, entertainment, doing all the things that make life enjoyable.

The final straw, which looks like breaking the back of various camels, is the suggested imposition of a £1 booking fee for cabs when booked over the phone.

How else would you book a cab?

If you are already in the city centre, you might have a fighting chance of flagging one down in the street but in the outer purlieus, forget it.

For most people planning an evening out, it means either taking your own car and hoping to park within a mile or so of your objective or phoning up for a cab.

Since the city fathers do not appear to want cars to come into the city centre, you might think they would encourage you to come by cab rather than countenance such a surcharge and, in any case, if you are planning a night of unbridled debauchery, a cab would be safer.

Apart from any other considerations, spare a thought for the elderly and disabled folk for whom the cabs are a lifeline to get to hospital and to go shopping.

That £1 charge would make life in the fast lane very expensive.

Let's look at the alternatives.

Well, you could kilt up your best dress around your knees and get on your bike, but few of us are in a position to do that and, in any case, it is so hard to get the creases out when you arrive at your destination.

It is true there is plenty of room on those cute pink stripes because so few people use them but somehow I don't think many of our age group would see this as a viable means of transport.

The new traffic wardens were going to make life so much easier for the buses to get through the traffic, weren't they?

Not according to a reader who called me to say she and her husband left their car at home, caught a bus into town from Patcham, enjoyed their trip out but when it was time to go home they waited for a number five bus for 55 minutes instead of the 30 they expected.

Without a car is like an egg without salt - spoilt!

The first thing we should be doing is to try to persuade our city fathers not to grant the request for the call charge.

Not only for those of us who use cabs for our daily business but for the visitors who will not appreciate it.

Brighton and Hove already has a flag-fall higher than a London cab; our hotels are seen as expensive and the traffic systems already make cab journeys longer.

If the council goes ahead with the planned traffic lights at Carden Avenue, it will clog up the entry to the city even worse than it does now.

The mini roundabout is not ideal but it does keep the traffic moving, except when Albion play at home and their supporters bring Carden Avenue to a standstill with their illegally parked cars - but that's another story.

Many people want to use cars legally and the council needs to recognise this.