STRONG opinions were expressed at a public meeting in Liskeard on Wednesday night over the level of car parking charges in the town.

Most of the speakers claimed that 'Liskeard was dying on its feet' as a direct result of Cornwall Council's car park charges. They said the charges are strangling businesses and making Liskeard an unsociable place to visit as everything revolved around getting back to the car before the parking ticket ran out.

Present at the meeting, organised by the Town Forum, and attended by about 80 residents and business owners, was Peter Moore, Cornwall Council Transport Manager, who was asked to take the opinions expressed back to county hall as part of the car parks consultation which ends on December 16.

Steve Foster, Community Network Manager for Liskeard and Looe, said the purpose of the meeting was to find an economically acceptable solution for Liskeard which at the same time would still have to meet the income target set for the area.

'That is immovable,' he said, 'but there are options which could help the town. Just by walking down the street and seeing boarded up shops at