The Veteran Car Run, now more than a century old, is the largest spectator event in Britain, with more than a million people lining the route between London and Brighton.

Whatever the weather, it's a wonderful sight to see hundreds of old crocks following much the same course as the first emancipation run in Victorian times.

But what an irony that an event held to celebrate the freedom of the motor car should each year bring Brighton to a juddering halt through traffic jams.