British roads: busiest in Europe
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• Britain has the busiest roads in Europe — yet we come bottom of the league when it comes to spending money them, according to a report out this week.
Britain has an average of 1,460 vehicles per kilometre per year compared with 699 in France, 691 in West Germany and 429 in Italy, says the report by the Federation of Civil Engineerinig Contracts. Yet British public spending on infrastructure, including roads, is only 2168 per head per year, compared with 2235 in West Germany and 2151 in France.
France has a 24,000 million road-building programme, compared with Britain's plans to spend 2700 million this year, says the federation. Road users in this country paid an excess 210,000 million in tax up till the end of April. • Truck drivers are regularly forced to bribe customs officials to get through European borders without delays, it was claimed at the European Parliament last week.
The allegations were made at a hearing before the European Parliament's transport committee by Tones Lezano, president of the International Drivers' Association.