I HAD to take my driving test seven times before I finally passed. Many people would argue I should not be let loose on the roads at all. But, now that I’m on the road, is it me or is Worcester one of the worst places to drive in Britain – I mean even before I got here?

I’ve never encountered the kind of congestion you get in parts of this city.

I dread my daily drive home to Warndon Villages from our office in Hylton Road, St John’s. It’s even worse, bumper to bumper, crawling at a snail’s pace along Castle Street and The Tything if I go to my gym in Perdiswell, especially with all the roadworks. I want to swear. I’m being told I’m not allowed.

There’s just far too many traffic lights sprouting up everywhere like psychedelic weeds. The ones I hate with a passion are at the top of The Butts, by the junction with Foregate Street, which stay green for all of three seconds before they change.

You watch, chewing your steering wheel in frustration, as two cars get through before they’re back on red.

You can’t risk running them either because of the great big camera.

Sometimes drivers themselves cause the problems like those who block the yellow box as you join Tybridge Street off the filter lane just after the cricket ground. This would be much better if it was turned back into a roundabout but no doubt there will be some number cruncher at County Hall who will say such a common sense decision would cause Armageddon.

Worcester has also been the victim of some quite bizarre decisions by Worcestershire County Council such as the bus lane in Newtown Road or the infamous Whittington roundabout slip lane where you have to be some kind of contortionist to see what’s coming. You try playing Twister in a Ford Fiesta. I don’t know about you, but I can think of better ways to spend £1.3 million. Perhaps some of the highways department top brass need a lesson in basic human biology. We are not owls. Our heads don’t turn full circle.

Worcester’s geography also causes problems for drivers. At one time the river Severn was your best means of getting about but I can’t imagine there are many people in the Faithful City who get the boat to work. Worcester is a historic city, ill-suited to the car.

The roads just can’t cope with the volume of cars and some of the main arterial routes through the city such as Tolladine Road and Newtown Road are bottlenecks. If there are roadworks or an accident the whole city grinds to a halt. The best thing about Worcester’s roads has to be their proximity to the M5. That’s if you can get there.