A PREVIOUS report on our long-term Peugeot 206 CC mentioned that its compact size would be okay for small families, but it's not advisable to travel too far with adults in the back.

But as the parent of just one child, who's almost four, I have to say the car isn't really suitable for a young family at all. To ensure my daughter has enough room to be comfortable in the car, the front seat passenger (my wife) must sit so far forward that her knees are jammed against the glovebox.

For short journeys to the local supermarket and back that doesn't pose too much of a problem, but I certainly wouldn't want to be a front seat passenger with a child in the back for a long period of time.

While other road testers have had maximum enjoyment in the car during our long, hot summer, I took possession of the keys at about the same time as the cold weather arrived.

And I'm pleased to say it behaves as well as any other car. Despite the fact it is a cabriolet, during this cold spell there have been no annoying leaks or draughts to report.

In fact, the only annoying aspect is that I haven't actually been able to have the roof down. On a couple of recent autumnal days a colleague assured me I wouldn't freeze if I embarked on a spell of open-top motoring with the heaters on, but I still didn't fancy it.

It's at times like these, when next summer seems such a long way off, that you question why you would buy a cabriolet in the first place, although the metal roof is in its favour.

With its fairly hard ride and go-kart like handling I wouldn't consider one as a business car anyway.

Having said that, as a 32-year-old man I'm sure I'm not exactly Peugeot's target audience.

But for the user-chooser wanting something different this car is a fine choice. However, anyone planning a family over the next three years should make that choice now as you will have almost certainly left it too late.

Company car tax bill 2003/04 (22% tax-payer): £65 per month Mike Roberts Price (OTR) £16,400 (£17,200 as tested) CO2 emissions (g/km) 191 Insurance group 14 Combined mpg 35.3 Test mpg 32.3 CAP Monitor residual value £5,475/34% HSBC contract hire rate £341 per month Total expenditure Nil Figures based on three-years/60,000-miles