THERE will be a volcanic explosion at County Hall this morning when councillors and transport staff see the cut-out letter on page 2, which motorists in Oxford can use to ask for a rebate on their parking permit.

Oxfordshire County Council is steadfast in its refusal to admit it made a profit on the scheme charging motorists for permits to park near their homes, despite its paperwork showing this to be the case.

It claimed the controlled parking zone scheme was not for profit. Yet, as we revealed, it spent £768,009.68 on it during 2010-11 and received £878,452.44 in income – £448,448.72 of which was from selling permits. It left a surplus of £110,442.76.

County transport mandarins have been disputing this, claiming this does not take into account money spent enforcing yellow lines in the controlled parking zone streets, and that it actually makes a loss.

We reject this twisted thinking, as yellow lines are nothing to do with controlled parking zones. As the Department for Transport has confirmed, yellow lines are painted where vehicles should be barred from parking because of safety or traffic flow issues – therefore, not to mark the end of a parking bay.

So, today we join Oxford City Council in asking the county council to show some goodwill and fairness towards the 8,276 motorists in Oxford with permits.

Rough calculations put the potential rebate at £13 each, but there’s no doubt a few financial loose ends, so we reckon we’ll call it a tenner.

No doubt the council will baulk at this and grumble about how citizens don’t understand such a complicated matter. It is simple though: it has made money on this scheme contrary to its claims.

This is your money and if enough people ask for a rebate then the council (which banked a total profit of £1.13m from all its parking ‘services’) cannot, in good conscience, refuse.