THE decision taken by those at the White Horse pub in Headington to charge for parking has left customers reeling.

But having been plagued by students using their car park to leave their vehicles while they head off to lectures, it’s hard to see what other choice they have.

Of course it will cause a pinch on the pockets of punters, especially regulars, who will have to pay £2 to park for two hours.

In order to encourage those who use the car park to also use the pub, they are refunded the £2 if they spend £5 or more which seems perfectly reasonable.

Pubs are having to do all they can at the moment to retain their customers and we all know how valuable and limited parking spaces are in the city.

So as thousands of students flock back for the start of the new term the White Horse has come up with a very effective and ultimately fair way of protecting their spaces from being taken up by those not visiting the pub.

And if you are parking there – student or not – to go to the pub, you’ll get your parking money back if you just buy a couple of drinks. Everyone’s a winner.