IT’S difficult to decide on an appropriate reaction to Swindon Borough Council raking in nearly £2.5m from parking.

On an emotional level it’s easy to sympathise with the views expressed by the RAC and Eric Pickles. They see the bonanza as yet another example of a local authority lining its pockets at the expense of the very people it’s supposed to serve, and charging fines and fees far out of proportion to the cost of providing the service.

This argument holds a lot of water, but we suspect it might be better to adopt a pragmatic approach. After all, if certain other council services reached their current perilous state while drivers were being milked, we dread to think what they’d be like were the milking to cease.

The state of those services, incidentally, is by no means solely the fault of the local authority.

Before Mr Pickles opens his mouth to condemn Swindon Borough Council, he would do well to reflect on the disgraceful short-changing of this community by many governments down the years, not to mention the starvation rations imposed by his own masters.

Having said that, the council does itself no favours. The parking revenue might just about cover, for example, the cost of the Averies fiasco.

If the people of the borough want cheaper parking and fairer fines, they should demand it of their councillors and threaten to withdraw support at the ballot box.

However, they shouldn’t be surprised if this ends up affecting the overall picture in unexpected ways.