We are far from convinced of the motivation of Oxford City Council in charging a premium for parking oin the Westgate car park on Saturdays.

As an isolated measure to deal with congestion and encourage people on to alternative forms of transport, it is crude in the extreme.

Its real purpose may be to increase revenues for the council, but even that could backfire if it only encourages people to forsake Oxford for other shopping centres.

The massive increase in charges on Saturdays will do nothing for congestion in Oxford. Congestion in the city is largely a commuting issue. It happens in the peak hours Monday to Friday. Logically, premium rates should be charged for the time of day that motorists arrive, not for the length of stay. That could mean premium rates for arriving early on week days, but cheaper rates for arriving early at weekends.

The crudeness of the city council's proposal for a premium rate on Saturdays is also highlighted by the lack of any positive measure to encourage drivers on to any other form of transport. It is simply punitive. Where is the proposal to make park-and-ride car parking free or to make the buses cheaper? It simply is not a coherent or balanced transport proposal.

Added to this, the timing of the proposal beggars belief. The Westgate car park only has another 12-24 months of existence ahead of it. It will be one of the first things to go to make way for new shops. And, it will be replaced by a new car park as the Westgate shopping centre is redeveloped.

The redevelopment of the Westgate area will bring with it major disruption. While this is to be expected, it makes no sense for the city council to be adding one more reason for shoppers to avoid Oxford.

City councillor Jean Fooks says the proposal is "not a congestion charge, but it's akin to that".

Clearly, it is a form of congestion charge, but it is crude and discriminates against the wrong people.