IF the detail - not just the gist - of this column seems blindingly familiar, then you won't be surprised to be reminded that much of what follows was aired just seven days ago.

We make no apologies for going over old ground but, if you should wonder why we are - to risk using a cringe-inducing piece of management jargon - you're part of the problem, not the solution.

For the third time in seven days, yesterday, firemen on a call to a house fire in The Arboretum had to leave their engine yards away from the scene because parked cars prevented it from being useable any closer.

Last Friday, we reported how a crew on a call to the same Victorian part of Worcester faced the same problem.

No one was hurt, but firemen warned then that the next incident might not end with luck on their side.

On Monday, the same happened at a second home there. The message was the same.

Yesterday it was a case of third time lucky - and we feel bound to echo their concern.

All three near-misses are eloquent reminders - if such were needed - that the Arboretum residents and the city council need to sit down and resolve the parking problem, and resolve it quickly.

We know a residents-only parking plan is fraught with difficulties. But we see no reason why office workers and shoppers parking in the area during the day, and clubbers should put lives at risk, while pub-goers do the same at night.

How close have we come, in the past eight days, to telling you that a family watched helplessly as a child's life was lost?

We don't know. What we do know is that no time should be wasted in acting to make sure that it will never happen.

We simply can't rely on fourth time lucky.