Cars 'threaten country'

Britain's countryside could be ruined within a generation if increasing rural congestion from cars is not contained, the Countryside Commission warned. A study carried out by Oxford University's Transport Studies Unit predicts that while road traffic overall is expected to double by 2025, traffic on rural roads may triple. Michael Dower, director general of the commission, called on people to use cars less. More than 70 per cent of rural traffic was from city dwellers.