IT was very kind of Coun Reid to offer the use of her daughter's wedding vehicles to test York's new "green lane" technology.

This usually involves fitting vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines with a device that identifies them to the traffic lights. If a real emergency vehicle had been used for the trial, it would not necessarily have then been available to respond to a genuine disaster.

Ann must have saved us council taxpayers a bob or two, and potentially someone's life into the bargain.

She also regularly rides a battery-assisted pedal cycle bike into town. This can nip through traffic jams without any high tech gadgetry, and saves a city centre parking space into the bargain.

How many of her critics are prepared to use two wheels instead of four?

Paul Hepworth,

Windmill Rise,

York.

Updated: 10:11 Thursday, October 20, 2005