SHOPPERS and workers rejoice. Cornwall Council-owned car parks will be free to use on February 29.

The campaign by this newspaper to try to kick-start a revival in our town centres needs to be commended, and so does the local authority, which has taken a leap of faith on the leap day and done its bit to try to persuade more people to shop in our ailing centres.

Cornwall Council will lose revenue, but shoppers and workers – who have to pay up to £5 to park their cars all day in some towns – will benefit.

Maybe those workers will choose to spend that £5 on a meal at lunchtime, or purchase something in a town shop.

The next move should surely be for other authorities which own car parks – town councils – to follow Cornwall Council's lead and declare a fee-free day on February 29. Come on, it's only once in four years.

Town councils often object to planning applications for large out-of-town supermarkets, citing a loss of town centre trade. The problem is that town councils do little to help traders on their high street. These shopkeepers are already burdened with high business rates and rents.

Talking to some small independent traders, their overheads are quite frightening and all this has to be taken into account before they make a penny profit.

What we need is free town centre parking once a week – even if it's only on a Monday, a traditionally slow day for shopkeepers.

If that happened, the Monday blues wouldn't be so blue, for traders, shoppers or workers.

People shop at out-of-town supermarkets – and I go once a week too – because they are not asked to pay a parking charge and it's convenient.

This is true – it's a lot easier to wheel a trolley from the store to your car than trundle it through Fore Street in St Austell or Bodmin.

But I would disagree on another commonly-held view – that supermarkets provide better value.

If quality is to be valued, then independent town centre butchers, greengrocers, stationers, jewellers and a lot of other traders win hands down.

It's not always cheaper to shop in many supermarkets either.

But add a few pounds to the cost of parking and it does put people off.

Truro has benefited hugely from the city centre being, by and large, a vehicle-free zone.

St Austell, too, is a pleasant place to shop with its pedestrianised centre.

It's time our old and tired market towns seriously considered following suit.

Fore Street in Bodmin, for instance, is always choked with traffic. Fowey can be a nightmare in the summer and so can Looe.

If the powers that be are serious about reviving our shopping centres, they need a serious makeover and there's no better way to start than to ban traffic driving through them.

This idea will inevitably upset many of the traders it is intended to help – what about deliveries they cry. This can easily be sorted with designated early morning delivery hours, freeing up town centres after say, 9.30am.

Large cities realised long ago that pedestrianised precincts were vital to keep trade within the city walls. The same logic should be introduced to our market towns. Free parking on February 29 is at least a start.