Anyone who has visited Kingston upon Thames recently, by car, will know how notorious, and often…read morefrustrating, the vagaries of the one-way system are. Add to that the pretty harsh parking restrictions (which have just become even stricter) and it can take quite significant determination and patience to want to visit, in a private four-wheeled vehicle. Happily, in this context, public transport or my own two feet are usually my preferred means of arrival. On Sunday evening, however, my companion and I needed to park here. We took a long while to chance upon this sweet little car park, by the river, heading towards Teddington. It was a bargain, at just £1 for the whole evening, and worked efficiently in terms of access and obtaining the relevant ticket. Recommended for a great view, too!

I trust Walton Road Garage, and the guys who work there implicitly with my car. I know that if…read moreanything is wrong with it - don't ask me what, I still can't even open the bonnet - that I can take my car here and say. 'Uh, please fix it?', and it is done quickly, and at not too much cost. I take my car here for MOT's, but they also do car and motor bike sales, as well as van/car hire, valeting and bodywork. The other day they needed to do some work on the brakes and quoted me about £70.00. Cause I'm a girl, I always get a bit paranoid that garages quote different prices, so I got my friend who is a mechanic to phone up and he was quoted the same price, and then I got my dad to call in and as he is a friend of the owner, he was assured that this is the fixed price. Hurrah! A garage that doesn't fleece its customers!

This is a very busy and chaotic garage. They do not pay attention to the quality of the repair work…read morethey are doing and there are no quality checks done by the management, so the end result is very poor. On top of that they charge premium rates for their work. Stay clear!

This privately-run car park is conveniently placed if you plan on parking prior to a riverside…read morewander, or enjoying a meal close to the river, in Kingston. May I politely suggest, however, that you think again For starters, it is very expensive at £4.50 for two hours. The Pay-and-Display ticket machine failed to function smoothly when we visited here on Sunday evening. We had to persevere many times before it accepted our coins. After paying the requisite £4.50, we were greeted with the message that the minimum charge was £5.50 (although this appeared nowhere on their information or signage). We then retrieved our coins and started over with a £5 note. The note was swallowed by the machine but not acknowledged and was impossible to retrieve. Prior to this, inserting a credit card - twice - (and following the instructions!), also failed to be acknowledged. So, except if this was a one-night blip, I recommend that you look elsewhere unless you enjoy a frustrating, very pricey inefficient parking experience.

Both my husband and myself have used John, owner of Westfield Motors, to diagnose faults, repair…read more and check our vehicles prior to MOT for many years. He is passionate about cars and always goes that extra mile to solve a problem and repair rather than replace. He deals with all makes of cars and we wouldn't take our vehicles anywhere else. We wholeheartedly recommend him.