Town found 'least car-friendly'

Northampton has been named the UK's least car-friendly town in a survey of the best places for motorists.

The 50 largest populated towns and cities were ranked on petrol cost, parking prices, car parks, and vehicle car crime.

Telford in Shropshire, came top in the insurance company survey and was noted as the best town for car parks.

But Northampton was seen to have high levels of vehicle crime, few parking spaces and expensive petrol.

Councillor Bob Seery, Northamptonshire County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "Clearly there are matters of concern, but a number of criteria are outside my control.

"Northampton has become a hub of the country, it is right in the centre, its a means of communication between the east midlands and the ports on Eastern side of the country.

"There are major pressures on traffic passing through the town, through the villages and through the whole of the county and those do present an opportunity for petrol suppliers to increase their prices because they have got a market."

'Facing frustrations'

Dundee was found to be the second best place for motorists in the survey, followed by Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Swindon was seen as the safest town in the survey with an average of 2.2 incidents of car crime per 1,000 people, while Manchester was at the other end of the scale with an average of 8.9 incidents per 1,000 people.

Scott Mowbray, of Virgin Money Car Insurance, who carried out the survey, said: "The UK's 33m motorists face many frustrations.

"The number of speeding tickets issued to motorists has almost trebled in the last 10 years and petrol prices continue to soar.

"It's easy to see why, for many, motoring has evolved from a pleasure to an exercise of survival on the roads.

"Although no town or city is perfect, thankfully there are still some pockets of the country that are suitable for a Sunday drive."