PASS the oxygen - unbelievably, the notion of abolishing town-centre car parking charges is floated inside an East Lancashire town hall.

At last, after years of motorists being hounded and treated by councils as a cash milch-cow, we hear a call from Burnley council leader Stuart Caddy for a review of the town's charging policy- with a view to boosting town-centre business.

Has the penny dropped - that councils should make motorists welcome to spend their money in their shopping centres and not at cars-welcome out-of-town retail developments?

Interestingly, this follows action by Hyndburn Council to give motorists easier access to virtual no-go inner Accrington - a move perhaps stemming from the revolt of voters in Great Harwood against anti-car, traffic-calming overkill.

At this rate, we might yet have more belatedly-enlightened town hall administrations examining just how many of their miles of yellow lines and heaps of road humps are really necessary and realising that they exclude motorists at the peril of the town-centre economies.

But, don't build up your hopes, for we see Blackburn with Darwen Council 'consulting' on the regeneration of Darwen town centre with a plan to bring in parking charges despite more than 1,000 people signing a petition against and being about to ban cars from Blackburn's main 'through' thoroughfare.

Old instincts die hard among those with reserved places on the town hall car park.