Is Britain a nation of middle-lane hoggers?

It's one of the most irritating habits on the road – drivers remaining in the middle lane of the motorway, despite the inner lane being clear. Lane-hogging is so despised in the UK that it's now an offence, with a £100 fixed penalty notice the punishment if caught.

But even this doesn't deter drivers totally. A new poll, commissioned by insurance firm Direct Line, found that 43 per cent of drivers admit to hogging the middle lane, even when the inside is clear. Just over a third of these lane hoggers said that they do it to avoid changing lanes too often.