Nostalgia: Finding a space was an easy ride ...

THERE are few things that fuel frustration in the Capital’s motorists like parking.

In recent months, the Evening News has revealed that not only does Edinburgh employ more parking wardens than anywhere else in the UK outside London, but that the city tops the Scottish league table for the number of torn-up tickets, with almost 60,000 cancelled on appeal over the last two years.

This week plans were outlined to cut the cost of all-day stays on the outskirts of the city centre to just £3.

A car park in Castle Terrace opened in 1964, hailed as “only a contribution to meet the growing traffic problem in the city”. With accommodation for 260 cars, parking there was free for the first month. Parking difficulties were already huge a concern by then, proven by the construction of the multi-storey car park in King’s Stables Road.

But even that endured problems of its own, when work was delayed in 1962 after contractors struck soft earth where they expected rock. The solution involved building a 40 foot wall, which added a £50,000 bill to a scheme previously estimated to cost £386,000.

Motorists have landed themselves in trouble over parking many times, such as in 1964 when a car owner was fined £3 after being found guilty of ignorning a “No Parking” sign that had been placed in Frederick Street.

William Kerr claimed the portable warning had been put there after he had parked.

He earned sympathy from the City Proseuctor Mr JD Heatly, who kicked off moves to make parking information signs in the Capital permanent.