I was looking for a parking space at the hospital today. It took a while but I got one, then I struggled to fit square in the space and leave enough room for cars on either side. I went to the parking meter and paid for an hour.

When I got to the pharmacy I had to wait twenty minutes for new tablets, but that was not unusual. I had half an hour left when I got back to the car, and the distance to get off the car park was about 200 yards.

Guess how long it took to get out? Half an hour! Cars were queuing all the way up to the barrier. You could turn right or left, but the car park leads onto a road that goes through the hospital grounds. And that was chockablock with cars and buses. Both ends of it lead onto traffic lights and then main roads. So it was effectively pretty gridlocked, with only small numbers of cars released every few minutes. My main worry? Will I get fined for staying over the hour I paid for?