IN life you have people who seize opportunity and those who don’t. Those who have chosen to make cash from their spare parking spaces have embarked on what is certainly a novel concept.

As folk continue to tighten their belts, we could all be grateful for a bit of extra income.

But looking beyond this, the hundreds of people embarking on this scheme show just what a premium parking has become in the city.

If we don’t have enough parking spaces, then businesses and shoppers can suffer.

At the same time, when the city can barely find enough land to house people, then how on earth can we find space for parked cars?

The Oxford Mail has reported how Oxford City Council made a £4.1m surplus on parking charges last year.

The money ends up paying for various road improvement schemes across the city, but some might say drivers coming into the city centre should ditch the cars for public transport. Maybe so, but for that argument to work we need better trains and more buses. Meanwhile, if the local authority can make money from drivers, then why can’t residents themselves?