I was driving along Beachy Head Road recently and could hardly believe my eyes.

For the whole length of the cliffs to Birling Gap, every place where a vehicle could pull off the road had a pay-and-display machine in it.

What must foreign visitors think of us? And why do we have to be charged to view our own, British scenery anyway?

Our county isn't alone in doing this. All the approaches to Portland Bill in Dorset have been engineered so that the only place to stop is a large pay-and-display car park.

Going to view the Grand Canyon in the US, or any other place of interest, there are no charges of any kind.

But then there doesn't seem to be as much freedom in this country, does there?

-John Pearson, Partridge Green