A VAUXHALL Vectra company car driver has battled for 5,000 miles with a car that makes more road noise than his old Cavalier. Nevan Kitchen, a safety manager with construction company Laing, knows just how noisy his car is - he has measured it with a decibel meter! At motorway speeds his Vectra produces 78-80 decibels, while a control test with a Cavalier recorded just 72 decibels.

Kitchen said he had complained to Vauxhall directly and the customer support team had ordered local dealers Appleyards to take the car in. The car was returned, said Kitchen, with a note acknowledging the problem but saying there was nothing they could do.

However, Vauxhall's fleet director Mike Bonner said: 'We don't have a noise problem with the Vectra. This story sounds to me to be about an individual whose car is not right and we will bring the car back here and see what we can do. I will sort this problem out through the proper channels.'