IT WAS June 15, at 5.30pm, and I needed to go out in my car.

We had just had a torrential downpour and it was rush hour.

Oh dear, I thought, the traffic is always worse when it rains.

I drove out of Mill Street, and saw a miracle. There was no traffic either way on Botley Road.

At first I thought a meteor must have landed in the centre of Oxford.

I drove on and under the station bridge, where St Frideswide’s Square had only a few cars, all moving easily.

Suddenly I realised it was no miracle; it was simple. All the Square’s traffic lights had gone down.

Is it possible that our city’s traffic planners could look into this phenomenon?

Or will we get the same response that we have had on previous occasions when this has happened – that, on the relevant days, traffic was particularly light?

I won’t hold my breath waiting for a sensible answer.

BRIAN COX, Mill Street, Oxford