London, Manchester and Liverpool were all among the most congested cities in Europe last year, statistics from traffic information company INRIX showed.
Based on rush-hour commute-to-city travel in 2011, the figures revealed that UK drivers spent 32 hours of the year stuck in traffic, although this was four hours less than in 2010.
Heading the congestion list last year was Belgium where drivers wasted 55 hours in traffic. The Netherlands was the next-worst country for jams, followed by Italy.
The INRIX figures also showed that in the London commuter zone last year, drivers wasted 66 hours in traffic, with the Greater Manchester figure being 45 hours and Liverpool being 39 hours.
The worst time for congestion in London was Friday from 4pm to 5pm, while Greater Manchester's worst time was Tuesday from 9am to 10am, with Liverpool's jams being at their worst between 4pm and 5pm on Wednesdays.
Nationwide, the worst time to be on the roads was in London between 4pm and 5pm, when it took an average of 33% longer to complete a journey than in uncongested conditions.
Overall, a journey along a UK major motorway during peak-time driving hours took, on average, 17% longer than in jam-free conditions.
All 18 UK cities analysed had fewer jams last year than in 2010, with Friday being the worst traffic day and Tuesday being the worst weekday morning.
The best weekday for traffic in the UK last year was Monday, with the worst commuting hour being 9am to 10am on Tuesdays and the best being 7am to 8am on Fridays.
Among UK cities, the biggest decline in hours wasted in traffic last year was in Birmingham, where drivers spent eight hours less in queues than in 2010.
Londoners spent seven hours less, with drivers in Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham and Glasgow all spending five hours less.
For European countries, the biggest drops in congestion between 2010 and 2011 were in Portugal (down 49%), Ireland (down 25%), Spain (down 12%) and Italy (down 12%).
INRIX Europe senior vice president Stuart Marks said: "So goes traffic, so goes the economy.
"Traffic congestion is an excellent economic indicator telling us whether people are going to work, businesses are shipping products and consumers are spending money."
These were the 10 most congested areas in the UK in terms of hours drivers spent stuck in traffic in 2011:
1. London commuter zone 66
2. Greater Manchester 45
3. Liverpool 39
4. Birmingham 34
5= Belfast-Lisburn 33
5= Newcastle upon Tyne 33
7. South Nottinghamshire 32
8. Leeds-Bradford-Harrogate 30
9= Sheffield 29
9= Edinburgh-Lothian 29
Source: www.independent.co.uk
London politicians call for Munich '72 remembrance - Reuters UK
LONDON |
LONDON (Reuters) - London politicians urged the International Olympic Committee to show political courage and allow a minute's silence during the opening or closing ceremonies of the London Games to mark the 40th anniversary of the Munich massacre.
Eleven Israeli team members died at the 1972 Olympics in Munich after being held hostage by Palestinian gunmen.
The London Assembly unanimously voted on Wednesday for a motion supporting a minute's silence for the athletes and coaches who died in the attack.
Andrew Dismore, who proposed the motion, said the deaths went beyond politics and nationality.
"The IOC say to have a minute's silence to commemorate these victims of terrorism would be a ‘political gesture', but surely not having a minute's silence is, in itself, the political gesture," he said in a statement.
"This is not about the nationality of the victims - they were Olympians."
Londoners have forked out about 10 percent of the 9.3 billion pound public bill to stage the Games, with the rest coming from central government and the national lottery.
Roger Evans, another lawmaker, who seconded the motion, said: "The IOC needs to show some political courage and allow the commemoration of a tragedy that affected their guests during their event in their venue 40 years ago.
"This important decision should not be dictated by a small number of their members."
The London organising committee (LOCOG), responsible for staging the Games, said it was a matter for the IOC.
The IOC was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Robert Woodward)
Source: uk.reuters.com
London Calling: Childline marks its 25th birthday in the capital with a celebration of one of Britain's great icons - Daily Mail
By Ian Garland
|
At first glance it looks like a great British icon has taken on a life of its own.
Dozens of old fashioned telephone boxes have appeared across London - but with a dramatic twist.
The traditional red kiosks have been accessorised, recoloured and transformed by artists in a project to celebrate children's charity ChildLine's 25th birthday.
The Artboxes were showcased in Trafalgar Square before being scattered at various locations around London
A giraffe nibbles on foliage in Benjamin Shine's creation London Distance. Right: A box on a box
Left: Ring Ring for Britain, created by fashion chain Accessorize. Right: Bert Gilbert's padded Cell Phone Box
There are 86 of the bedazzled boxes in total, each one adapted from its original state by artists including Sir Peter Blake, model Liy Cole and designers Giles Deacon, Zandra Rhodes, Philip Treacy and Julien Macdonald.
As well as marking the charity's birthday, the project is a celebration of the humble phonebox, which played an important role in ChildLine's conception.
Esther Rantzen, the charitys founder, explained: 'It's fantastic to meet some of the creative and outstandingly talented artists involved in the BT ArtBox project this evening.
'In ChildLine's early years the public telephone box played a crucial role in enabling abused and neglected children to ring ChildLine safely and reach the help they so desperately needed.'
Speaking at gala to launch Artbox in London last night, Mrs Rantzen added: ' I'm thrilled that beautifully decorated phoneboxes will play there part again today liberating desperate children, since the proceeds from the sale of the boxes will go to support the work of ChildLine, enabling us to help many more children and young people.'
The boxes have been scattered across the capital, where they will stay on display until July 16.
Shiny: Ted Baker created a bling box, left, while Harvey Nichols dreamed up a kiosk that 'celebrates the style and eccentric glamour of Knightsbridge
Artists Rob & Nick Carter's stained glass ArtBox is an illumintated spectrum of multicolours
Left: Lidia de Pedro and Fee Fee La Fou's spectacular circus-themed box. Right: The Cure - a 'Dark and brooding' creation from The Prodigy MC MM
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London’s miners dominate FTSE 100 losses - Financial Times
Last updated: June 21, 2012 5:01 pm
Source: www.ft.com
London 2012 - BBC News
Olympic gold medal the pinnacle - Murray
Andy Murray, the first player to be named in Team GB's tennis squad for London 2012, says there is no greater achievement than winning gold.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Woman who lost legs in 7/7 bombing after London Olympic party meant she caught later train makes Paralympic team - Daily Mail
- 'I was one of the lucky ones,' says mother-of-one caught in 7/7 bombing
- Sportswoman makes sitting volleyball team after losing legs in the terrorist attack
By Claire Bates
|
A survivor of the July 7 suicide bombings said her dreams had come true after being picked to compete at the London 2012 Paralympics.
Martine Wright, 39, took up sitting volleyball after losing her legs in the 2005 terror attacks, and spends up to 25 hours training a week.
Martine Wright, a former marketing manager, is now on Britain's women's sitting volleyball team
After finding out she had made the squad, she said: 'I have dreamt of being part of it and now I am going there to do my country proud.
'I would like to thank my family and friends for all their love and support they have given me in my quest to become a Paralympian. They are all amazing'.
Mrs Wright, from Tring in Hertfordshire, was one of the last people to be pulled from the wreckage of the tube train at Aldgate. She lost 75 per cent of her blood, spent 10 days in a coma, and lost both her legs.
She only narrowly survived because off-duty policewoman Elizabeth Kenworthy braved the wreckage and tied a tourniquet around her legs. Seven people died in her tube carriage, while 52 people were killed in total in the terrorist attack.
'I was one of the lucky ones,' she told Trans World Sport.
'I'm still here. I got new legs and I survived.'
Martine Wright now walks with false limbs. She says she is lucky to have survived the 7/7 bombings
In a strange twist of fate, the sportswoman caught a later train than usual on July 7th 2005 because she was running late after celebrating London winning the Olympics the night before. She was sitting just 3ft from one of the bombers when they detonated.
She spent 10months in hospital before learning to walk again at Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton.
She returned briefly to her job in marketing but then turned to sport as she felt something was missing from her life.
'Someone who goes through something traumatic can lose their confidence and lose their goals,' she said.
'I think sport revives these things in people.'
The mother-of-one tried a taster Paralympic day and fell in love with the team sport of sitting volleyball.
The sport is in its infancy in Britain, potentially putting them at a disadvantage in comparison to their rivals, but with London 2012 on the horizon the team has made a determined push to try and prove they are worth their home nation spot.
ParalympicsGB had only sent a standing volleyball team to compete at the Games before London 2012.
Martine, pictured in 2010, married her partner Nick and had son Oscar after the bombings
Also on the women's team is Sam Bowen, a former soldier who lost a leg in a mortar attack in Iraq.
When Volleyball England took control of the British Sitting Volleyball programme in 2009, there were just a few male players training.
Now there are a men's and women's squads with players training daily with a full time coach.
ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission Craig Hunter said: 'Today we have announced a group of athletes who are truly phenomenal.
'Not only have they worked incredibly hard to get to this point, but as individuals many of them have gone through difficult personal circumstances in order to do so.
'These athletes epitomise the power of the Paralympic Games to inspire people, both disabled and non-disabled, and the power of sport to change peoples' lives.'
Speaking at the selection announcement at City Hall, London Mayor Boris Johnson wished the team 'the very best of luck when they battle it out against the best teams from around the world this summer.'
For more information on the London 2012 Paralympics visit www.london2012.com/paralympics
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Wonderful story! Congratulations & good luck for the Games!!
- 6ftblonde, farfaraway, 21/6/2012 17:16
Report abuse