Sir, Work continues apace on resurfacing the city's bypass. Inevitably there is disruption but the traffic management system in places appears to be the best possible in the circumstances. Where the carriageway reduces from two lanes to one, clear warning signs and cones are in place.

So the roadworkers are doing their bit not so the motorists. I refer to our quintessentially English habit of queuing. This is applied so resolutely that the majority of drivers start lining up on the inside lane hundreds of yards before the obstruction, even though there is space in the outside lane. Such is the determination of the queuers that some will even straddle both lanes to prevent others passing.

Once those drivers who have sensibly occupied the outside lane, thereby reducing the length of the tailback, reach the cones and attempt to move in to the traffic flow, they often find themselves blocked by those on the inside lane who stubbornly refuse to give way. What we have is a failure of both common sense and common courtesy. The answer, I suggest, is to add further signage in order to state the obvious: merge in turn.

Christopher Ogden, Oxford