"THE narrow streets of Worcester's Arboretum have been filling up with cars faster than you can say Joe Glovemaker.

"There used to be many people living in the Victorian terraced houses who didn't have vehicles - but those homes have been sold to new owners who have cars.

"It is, of course, very reasonable for them to want to park as close as they can to their homes...."

Those words were written at the start of October, in support of calls for parking permits in the area.

But the final sentence might easily have ended with these words... "and expect an emergency vehicle to be able to reach their doorsteps".

Today's Page 3 story of the fire engine which simply couldn't squeeze between cars to reach a house blaze is an eloquent reminder - if a reminder were needed - that the Arboretum residents and the city council need to sit down and resolve the 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.

Today, we report that a family watched helplessly as their flat filled with thick smoke while fire crews tried to force their way through double-parked cars lining the street.

How close did we come to telling you that the 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.