ISN'T it funny how as you get older it's the little things in life that give you the most pleasure?

At the ripe old age of 27 I already find great satisfaction in being able to pay for things with exactly the right change and spotting grammatical errors in magazines - things I'm sure wouldn't have crossed my mind five years ago.

Something of a similarly pedantic nature that got me cheering internally this week was the excellent news that the most ridiculous parking system in history is being abolished.

The method in Accrington of displaying what time you arrived on a small cardboard wheel has long been of great annoyance to me, and I bet I'm not the only one.

I'll never forget the first time I became entangled in the over-complicated system.

Having just arrived in the area as a reporter I was deployed to drive to Accrington to cover a council meeting at the last minute.

I was delighted that parking was free, but that was before I realised that every car park I found demanded I displayed the time I'd arrived on some mystery cardboard wheel which I must get from the town hall.

After eventually finding the town hall, obtaining a cardboard wheel, returning to my car to display the thing, then finding the venue for the meeting, I arrived flushed, stressed, and half an hour late.

The cardboard wheel is still causing problems.

You can be certain that it is safely nestled in the glove compartment where you left it, but sure as anything, when you need it, you'll find it's not there.

Many a time I've spent a good 10 minutes hunting through car manuals, tissues, old crisp packets and other assorted items before finding it nestled down the passenger door.

I never understood why free parking had to be so complicated anyway.

Why trust someone to display the time they arrived any more than you'd trust them to come back on time after three hours?

It's put me off parking at Accrington on more than one occasion and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

The system has been axed and I for one will be ripping up my cardboard wheel in celebration.

I can't remember being this happy since Morrisons had a three-for-two on Doritos.