I used to think Scoot was my mother's polite Scottish way of telling people to go away until I discovered this was the name of the system that would transform Abingdon's traffic problems.

After the widely reported chaos caused by the Abits scheme, I welcomed the announcement by the county council that it had decided to ask the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to carry out an independent review of the Scoot system, given that this was identified as one of the main problems with the trouble-plagued scheme.

Anyone who has suffered from the effects of the new scheme on traffic flows can confirm that it has done little to relieve congestion and has driven shoppers away from the town in droves.

Occupancy rates at the Vale's car parks are down by 120,000 on the pre-Abits levels, a fall of nearly a quarter, roughly equal to the reported drop in trade.

The often inexplicable tailbacks have also resulted in ever-increasing pollution levels, significantly above legal limits. Even cycle traffic has dropped by a third.

I was, therefore, shocked to discover that TRL is the developer and co-owner of the Scoot system, a fact the council had not deemed necessary to announce, and that appears nowhere in TRL's suspiciously favourable report.

Why weren't we told the truth about TRL's vested interest in this scheme, and can we trust its opinion as independent and unbiased?

I have difficulty in believing this to be possible.

MICHAEL HOCKEN, East St Helen Street, Abingdon