Abingdon has one of the best bus services, with operators competing to provide express services to Oxford every ten minutes or so.

Even with that, however, we report of increasing concern about congestion in the town. Many are worried that the recent changes to the road system have added to congestion. It is probably too early to come to any judgement on that.

In south Abingdon, residents are becoming increasingly frustrated with the jams.

They say one way to ease them would be to make Lodge Hill a full interchange with the A34. It's unlikely that the Department for Transport would ever agree to this. In fact, it is more likely to impose some sort of toll on the A34, forcing even more traffic on to local roads.

It is hard to see where solutions are going to come from, other than from dramatic improvements to bus services.

Express buses are one thing. They suit people travelling between one well populated area and another.

Only a dramatic, and loss-leading, improvement of services that includes rural Oxfordshire is going to persuade more people to get out of their cars.