Poole’s in top 10 of most car friendly towns

7:00pm Tuesday 17th July 2007

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POOLE narrowly missed out on a spot on the podium in a survey to find the UK's most car friendly town.

According to Virgin Money Car Insurance's annual report Poole finished in ninth place, well ahead of Bournemouth who limped home in 29th position.

It also said motorists in Poole, Newcastle, Dudley and Exeter have the most car park spaces to choose from per head of population.

Borough of Poole's principal manager of transportation services Steve Tite said: "With the increasing pressure on roads we need to take a wide ranging view on transportation, in particular supporting sustainable modes of transport.

"Nevertheless, we are extremely pleased with the result of the survey. We recognise the different needs of motorists and provide a range of parking options for residents and visitors, which are convenient, competitively priced and safe.

"We have ten car parks, which have achieved Park Mark status, a national sch-eme designed to reduce crime and fear of crime in car parks.

"Crime in Borough of Poole controlled car parks fell to the lowest level in 2006/07."

Researchers rated 64 of the UK's major towns and cities on a range of criteria, including petrol prices, number of car park spaces, the cost of parking for two hours, the number of speed cameras on main roads and the levels of car crime.

This year for the first time the issue of congestion was also taken into account.

For the second year running Dundee was rated the most car friendly city, and was among the cheapest for petrol.

Cardiff held onto its position as the least car friendly city in Britain, scoring particularly badly for its lack of car parks and high levels of car crime.

Jason Wyer-Smith of Virgin Money Car Insurance, said: "With more than 23 million UK drivers it's clear that we are in love with the car and spend a considerable amount of time in them.

"Unfortunately time spent driving is not always the most pleasant and our research shows the driving experience varies widely across the country.

"Every motorist will have their own definition of driving hell, whether it's hunting for a parking space or being stuck in a traffic jam."

Top towns Best 1. Dundee 2. Aberdeen 3. Telford 4. Ipswich 5. Dudley 9. Poole 29. Bournemouth.

And the worst... Cardiff