We visited Bath in late June of this year – my wife and I from Canada and her sister and brother-in-law from the USA. On return I received notice in the mail that I will have a £57 charge on my Mastercard for driving in a bus zone on Pulteney Bridge.

The letter below was sent to the traffic authority in Bath is in response to their assertion in earlier communication that the bridge was clearly marked as being for buses only.

I send it to you because we were a part of your economy during our visit to Bath and it is not easy to decipher new systems and I had no opportunity to appeal this fine since it was automatically charged against my Mastercard by the car hire company. My letter read:

"I realise my case is hopeless, but I should suggest that the signs I found on the traffic plan from your website for Pulteney Bridge and other Bath locations do not clearly specify the information you suggest.

"The sign showing a bus, a motor cycle the word 'taxi' with a diagonal line do not convey to me that cars are not allowed. I would guess that such a sign would mean not to park or stop in the bus/motorcycle/taxi zone, but they do not convey to me that I am not allowed to drive on the road and cross the bridge.

"The lines on the road also do not convey any particular information. I realise this may not be true for UK residents, but these signs on your traffic plan convey very little to a foreign visitor who is concentrating on traffic – and trying to stay on the left side of the road.

"One doesn't have time to decode the cryptic messages on signs or "read" the diagonal road markings. Again, I would have interpreted the diagonal road lines to mean to keep out of the zone where the bus stops to pick up passengers. Here in Canada we convey such information with a red warning sign that would read "DO NOT ENTER – BUS ZONE". Has using plain language ever been considered? I'll wager that over 90 per cent of people driving on UK roads can read English while only a minority of your visitors from North America can figure out the cryptically symbolic UK road signs – it's like reading the symbols on a laundry tag.

"I know I should study British road manuals and completely acquaint myself with all the regulations before renting a car. However, even if I made such a study it is not likely I would have remembered the meaning of such a sign.

"While you have to design your roads and your notices in ways that local residents understand and are used to, it seems that cities like Bath, which enjoy great revenue from tourists, ought to provide clear and simple messages in situations such as these.

"Again, simple written messages are more easily understood than decoding symbols.

"Thank you for your time in reading this."

JOHN POTTS UFV-International University of The Fraser Valley British Columbia, Canada