Unfortunately for me I have to travel the M4 around Newport twice every working day at rush hour.

Before anyone berates me for not using public transport I should point out that to do so would take me between two and a half and three hours each way - so that option is out of the question.

On a good day with no hold ups I can do the journey I have to make in 45 minutes.

Unfortunately good days are few and far between.

I am convinced that a lot of the hold ups we regularly have to experience on the motorway are caused by the Motorway Traffic Police themselves.

If there is a broken down vehicle on the hard shoulder - perhaps with its four-way warning lights flashing this causes no hold up at all, traffic continues to flow normally past it.

But if a police patrol car pulls up behind, the driver immediately switches on flashing blue and red roof lights and every motorist slows down to look to see what is happening, causing horrendous queues to build up quite unnecessarily.

I know that breakdowns on hard shoulders are a great hazard but surely the wilful causing of traffic to be reduced to a crawl on the motorway is a far greater hazard as not only is there the obvious risk of shunts in the queue but also the frustration which the queues cause to drivers makes those drivers more likely to speed away at the first opportunity.