"This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle..." Even filthy London streets couldn't put Shakespeare off his stride, but were the bard to be catapulted to 2023 and find himself wandering along the side of the M25, or any major UK road, would he describe this country in similar terms?
Probably not. Our litter-strewn verges are a disgrace, but even worse is the fact that, save for a few hardy members of the public with plastic bags and nerves of steel, no one does much about it. Actually, that's not entirely true. My local litter group's Facebook page carries a couple of pop-ups from the council proclaiming how its highways squads were in action over five days on the A3 and A331, when they gathered 1000kg of litter and 17,360kg of debris. That was in February. A month later they were out again on the A3 alone and harvested 1460kg of litter and 11,060kg of debris.
There are no national figures for the quantity of roadside litter and rubbish, although a report by the Council for the Protection of Rural England in 2020 estimated that clearing it up costs taxpayers around £850 million a year. According to National Highways, which is responsible for motorways, much of the rubbish its teams have to deal with is food packaging, but fly-tipping of household and construction rubbish is a growing problem, as are carelessly tied-down skiploads that release those endless, grey plastic streamers you see in hedges.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 10, 2023 من Autocar UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 10, 2023 من Autocar UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Poster car that went from rusty to trusty
One evening, two years ago, George Pappas was being driven down his local high street by a mate and mulling over whether to replace his Mk4 Golf diesel, a recent purchase that was boring him to death, when his girlfriend, also in the car, spotted an old BMW 3 Series at the side of the road with a 'for sale' sign in the window.
THE SEVEN-SEATER THAT VOLVO DARE NOT KILL OFF
The current-gen XC90 has been on sale since 2015 for good reason
GENESIS ELECTRIFIED G80
Where the story begins, in the Hyundai premium marque’s luxury saloon
LEXUSLBX
Can you shrink premium quality to fit an SUV this small? We now know
Rolls boss ready to 'define the next chapter'
Nine months into the job, Rolls-Royce CEO and car guy Chris Brownridge tells STEVE CROPLEY what he's learned and where the firm's heading
Once more, with feeling
AC Cars' recreation of the classic MkII Cobra is at first glance a faithful facsimile of a 1960s performance benchmark. SIMON HUCKNALL drives it
MERCEDES-BENZ CLE
Does a PHEV set-up work in a coupé that exudes such old-school vibes?
ANALOGUE SUPERSPORT
Lotus Elise specialist uprates 1990s icon with an eye on track days
ALPINE A290
The hot hatch is alive and well, and living in France. On both road and track, there's much to savour`
UK HANGS ON TO OLD CARS
Average car age climbs as high prices dampen demand for new models