I had to smile when I read Stephen Young's suggestion (Letters, June 15) that more people shopping locally would remove the need for a new park-and-ride facility on the outskirts of Brighton and Hove.

Brighton has 1,447 shops in its centre alone (not including Hove, London Road or St James's Street), whereas towns of a similar size, such as York, Chester and Oxford, have, on average, less than 600.

Brighton's plethora of shops is one of its strongest assets but they can't survive on just local trade.

We need to attract visitors into the city to support not only the retail sector of the economy but also the whole leisure/hospitality industry, which provides 13,000 jobs and £350m in revenue.

That's why we need better transport options for our eight million visitors with a park-and-ride facility, just like York, Chester and Oxford.

-Tony Mernagh, Executive Director, Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership