MORE than 1,300 cities in 35 European countries will ban cars from their streets on Sunday - in a move that perhaps could give fleets a glimpse of the car-free city centre of the future.

The European Car Free Day is being held as part of European Mobility Week, a series of events to launch new policies and initiatives and to raise awareness on damage to the environment.

Environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom said: 'By extending the European Car Free Day to a whole European mobility week we are moving up a gear this year and increasing opportunities to widen the debate on sustainable mobility.

'Climate disasters around the world this summer, including those in Italy, Germany, France and Eastern Europe, have reminded us just how pressing decisive matters are.'

Organisers of the car free day say it is designed to:

Encourage the use of alternative forms of transport and travel other than private cars.

Raise awareness and inform city-dwellers of what is at stake so far as concerns long-term mobility in towns and the risks connected with pollution.

Show the town in another light thanks in particular to reduced motorised traffic within restricted areas.

They say since the year 2000 the numbers of cities taking in the car free day initiative has doubled. Many of those cities will give the public the chance to test low emission vehicles.