Many European countries – and Britain more so than most – resemble an archipelago of clustered urban centres.

After all, once driving is made too expensive for us lowly ordinary citizens, the roads will be left to the pampered enjoyers of public-sector largesse.

But that just seems to be the way of things: paying more and more in return for services which get worse and worse.

For anyone outside of the capital, abandoning the car is simply not an option.