We thought a new era was dawning in relations between Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

How wrong we were.

We were all rejoicing last week when it was announced that all the city's park-and-rides were to come under county council control, leading to the abolition of all parking fees.

But now the city council has put a spoke in motorists' wheels by delaying any deal.

It says it won't agree to hand over its three park-and-ride sites until it is given a say on traffic matters affecting the city.

How childish can you get!

In particular, the city wants to influence how the £665,000 collected in fines from drivers breaching the city's bus gates is spent.

What a pity that we should be returning to the bad old days of friction between the two authorities.

It is nonsense to have parking charges at three park-and-rides run by the city, and free parking at the two run by the county.

The deal we thought had been struck would have brought uniformity at all five sites, ending years of confusion for motorists.

Now that confusion looks set to continue.

There is a simple solution - hand over the park-and-rides, then talk sensibly about other issues like grown-ups.