TRAFFIC jam experts were right to choose York for next week's conference examining the problem. If any city knows the frustrations of congested roads it is this one.

Their timing might have been better, however. If they had arrived a few days earlier, they could have studied jams of all flavours first-hand: race-meeting jams, roadwork jams, Bank Holiday jams.

The damage that gridlocked roads cause to business and tourism is well known, especially in North Yorkshire. But the event will also consider how congestion can stall drivers' love lives.

Research suggests relationships can come to a dead end when one party arrives late for a date and blames the traffic. It seems the excuse "honey, I was in a jam" drives many an impatient spouse round the bend.