I read with interest Zeba Clarke's comments (Letters, February 21). While I would not condone illegal parking, she does touch on the interesting topic of taxi ranks.

Brighton and Hove City Council has a policy of encouraging Hackney cabs to return to and only pick up from designated taxi ranks. "Working the streets", as I believe it is called, is actively discouraged. This policy is so far ahead of its time it has not, as far as I am aware, been adopted by any other council in the country.

Sadly, the policy is difficult to enforce. The Hackney cab trade seems, for the most part, happy with the idea of not picking passengers up from the street. The trade is less happy about the idea of servicing all the ranks that have been provided by the council. Instead, drivers prefer to concentrate their efforts on a selected few.

Many people will have had the experience of walking into the city vainly trying to flag down empty cabs. However, if you are unfortunate enough to live near a serviced rank, in the city centre, you will have to contend with sometimes hundreds of drunk and rowdy people congregating in the early hours of the morning to wait for taxis. In other areas, you may have to see potential parking spaces remain unused.

The council is happy, as always, to have feedback from its residents. The man employed by the council to represent the interests of residents to the Hackney Carriage Association is Tim Nicholls, Environmental Health and Licensing Manager, Brighton and Hove City Council, Bartholomew House, Bartholomew Square, Brighton.

-Steve, St Peter's Place, Brighton