The government is forcing all motorists to insure their vehicle whether they drive it or not, under controversial rules that are designed to combat uninsured driving.

Under the terms of the little-known continuous insurance enforcement law, it will be an offence to "keep" an uninsured vehicle – be it a car, van, motorbike, motorhome or truck – even if it is locked up in the garage or permanently parked on a driveway. Until now it has only been an offence to actively drive an uninsured vehicle.

The brief dip in petrol prices appears to have come to an end, new figures from the Automobile Association have revealed.

Petrol prices will continue to rise, say the AA

But with predictions of an increase in prices ahead, the AA also claims drivers have been "ripped off" by petrol stations when the price of oil was lower.

The breakdown rescue group, which reached its predictions on prices along with Experian Catalist, says the potential savings were not passed on to motorists.

Repair firm Autoglass is to axe hundreds of staff as soaring fuel costs led to cautious driving and hit demand for vehicle repair.

Autoglass has blamed mild weather and high fuel costs for the job cuts

The firm's owner Belron is to shed up to 400 of its 3,000 staff in the next month.

Belron told staff that mild conditions over some of the winter and higher fuel prices meant people were driving more slowly and across shorter distances.

Saudi women banned from driving

At just after 10 o'clock on Friday morning Maha al-Qahtani swapped places with her husband, Mohammed, and took the wheel of the family car.

For the next 50 minutes, she drove through the Saudi capital, along the six-lane King Fahd Road, through Cairo Square, down the upmarket Olaya Street with its shopping malls, Starbucks, Apple store and boutiques.

"No one tried to stop us. No one even looked," the 39-year-old civil servant said. "We drove past police cars but had no trouble."

In fact, the biggest problem for Qahtani was her husband sitting next to her in the family Hummer. "He kept telling me to slow down or speed up. He was very fussy," she said.

This is Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world that bans women from driving motor vehicles.

Speed of Traffic Slows

West Midlands and Shropshire drivers crawl through traffic at an average of less than 20mph. Recent figures have shown average car speeds to be less than the old horse and cart travelled at