Parisian woman called Zoé Renault has hired a lawyer in a bid to stop the French carmaker from using her name for a new model

The era of the mass-produced automobile has not been kind to anyone bearing the name Mégane, Clio or perhaps even Dyane. But spare a thought for a 23-year-old Paris woman who has reason to be especially distraught by plans for a new electric car: her name is Zoé Renault.

Your cottage in the country awaits its arrival

There are estate cars and then there are Mercedes E-class estate cars, the estate to which all others aspire. Or, at least, to which most estate drivers appear to aspire. It's the full kids-in-the-back, dog-in-the-boot, missus-in-a-huff, Friday-evening drive to the cottage, where the first G&T of the weekend waits like salvation, lifestyle package in vehicular form.

Your cottage in the country awaits its arrival. There are estate cars and then there are Mercedes E-class estate cars, the estate to which all others aspire. Or, at least, to which most estate drivers appear to aspire. It's the full kids-in-the-back, dog-in-the-boot, missus-in-a-huff, Friday-evening drive to the cottage, where the first G&T of the weekend waits like salvation, lifestyle package in vehicular form.

What better way of stopping cars tearing past school entrances and front doors than the prospect of holes strewn in their path?

Spring has sprung and, after the hardest winter in 30 years, potholes are going forth and multiplying on British roads. CTC, the national cyclists' organisation, has logged reports for 34,000 of them, less than a third of which have been mended. Their website FillThatHole.org.uk publishes a league table of highway authorities ranked on the percentage of potholes that have been fixed.