YORK is a lovely city to live in. But it isn't perfect. One of the things that spoils it is the chronic congestion on our roads. Just look at the jams caused by the temporary closure of Nunnery Lane.

Tackling congestion is therefore high on the agenda of local politicians of all parties. But how to go about it?

Following the embarrassing collapse of the Lendal Bridge experiment, Labour came up with a new idea: a specialist Congestion Commission charged with finding solutions.

In principle it sounded like a sensible idea. But after a leaked council report suggested it could cost as much as £161,000 in consultants' fees, opposition politicians began questioning whether it would represent value for money.

Now it has emerged that even if the commission gets the go-ahead from Cabinet, it is unlikely to make any recommendations before the autumn. If the council changes hands following the election, it could even be scrapped altogether.

We are not sure how many people would mourn it. But the council has to find some way of tackling congestion in York, and soon. It would be a tragedy if party politics got in the way of that.