Rishi Sunak has apologised after removing his seatbelt to film a social media video in the back of a moving car.

The Prime Minister made a “brief error of judgment” by removing the safety device as he promoted his levelling-up funding in the clip filmed for Instagram on Thursday as he visited Lancashire.

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Sunak “fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises”.

“The Prime Minister believes everyone should wear a seatbelt,” the spokesman said.

“It was an error of judgment, he removed it for a short period of time to film a clip, which you’ve seen, but he accepts that was a mistake.”

Fines of up to £500 can be issued for failing to wear a seatbelt when one is available.

There are a few exemptions, including when a car is being used for police, fire and rescue services and for certified medical issues.

Police motorbikes can be seen escorting the car as Mr Sunak addresses the camera.

Lancashire Constabulary referred a request for comment to the Metropolitan Police.

The Government has considered toughening seatbelt rules to ensure drivers not wearing them could receive penalty points.

Recent Department for Transport figures suggested around 30% of people killed in cars on Britain’s roads in 2021 were unrestrained.

Mr Sunak had already been criticised for flying to Blackpool in a taxpayer-funded RAF jet rather than taking a train.

Labour said Mr Sunak’s video was adding to “endless painful viewing” after he was previously seen struggling to make a contactless payment with his card.

“Rishi Sunak doesn’t know how to manage a seatbelt, his debit card, a train service, the economy, this country,” a spokeswoman said.

“This list is growing every day, and it’s making for endless painful viewing.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “It seems like the PM is getting too used to flying around in private jets that he’s forgotten to wear a seatbelt in a car.

“The fact he’s breaking a basic law is just embarrassing and frankly dangerous.”

The AA warned of the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt.

“No matter who you are it is important to wear your seatbelt when in the car,” an AA spokesman said.

A council is setting its sights on pop superstar Harry Styles as a potential customer for a rare number plate which could be sold to generate funds.

East Renfrewshire Council plans to sell the “HS 0” registration plate given to the former Eastwood District Council many years ago.

Local authority bosses say the number plate serves “no real purpose” and would be viewed by many as “an unnecessary extravagance”.

Councillors will consider the proposal to proceed with the sale at a meeting on January 26, and if approved it will be auctioned off with a suitable reserve.

The council says the sale has been identified as a potential way to generate income amid an “extremely tough” financial landscape.

It is hoping to attract a six-figure sum for the registration plate, with potential interest from celebrities with the initials “HS”, such as Styles or Strictly Come Dancing finalist Helen Skelton.

According to valuation website Regtransfers.co.uk, plates with “HS” can fetch high prices.

Its valuers told the PA news agency that the registration could fetch up to £150,000, but given how unusual it is it could potentially fetch more at auction.

HS 91 was listed on the website at £23,495 and 9 HS was listed for £136,495.

An East Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “The council is facing extremely difficult financial circumstances. To address these, and to mitigate their impact, every avenue is being explored in relation to generating efficiencies, charging for services and other ways of generating income.

“In light of the council’s difficult financial situation, all opportunities to generate income need to be considered.

“The sale of the council registration ‘HS 0’ presents the opportunity to generate a sizeable sum. In current circumstances it would be imprudent not to consider the sale of something which serves no real purpose and which, arguably, would be viewed by many as an unnecessary extravagance.”

Registrations with fewer characters attract a higher value, particularly those with an individual’s initials.

The council say the registration plate is particularly unusual due to the fact that most registrations start from the number one.

A Lancia Delta Integrale owned by actor Rowan Atkinson is coming up for auction next month.

The Delta, a famed ‘HF Integrale Evoluzione II’ model known for its rally pedigree, has been owned by the Mr Bean star since since May 2021, with Atkinson adding around 3,000km (1,864 miles) to the car during his time with it, and now displays 90,000km (55,923 miles) on the odometer. Silverstone Auctions, who is selling the car, says the actor has “enjoyed many happy hours in the car”.

The Lancia Delta shot to fame for its domination of the World Rally Championship in the late 1980s and 1990s, with Evoluzione – or ‘Evo’ as the name is usually shortened to – being the road-going homologation models that enabled Lancia to meet the conditions for motorsport.

The Evo II model arrived in June 1993, and is widely considered as the ‘one to have’. Featuring an uprated engine, power from its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine was increased to 215bhp.

Rowan Atkinson’s example was originally supplied to Japan, before being imported to the UK in 2011. It’s painted in Lord Blue, a rare colour for the Integrale.

Silverstone Auctions says the car is ‘supplied with a comprehensive history file’ and is ‘ready to be enjoyed and driven as it should be’.

Estimated to sell for £65,000 to £75,000, the Lancia is being sold at the Race Retro Show at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on February 25.

Rowan Atkinson is well-known for his love of cars, with the star buying one of the 106 McLaren F1s – now one of the most valuable cars – produced when new in 1997, and famously crashing it twice. He sold the F1 in 2015 for a reported £8m, with more recent cars auctioned off by the star including a Mercedes 500 E and Lancia Thema 8.32.

Hertz and Uber have announced an expanded partnership to bring 25,000 electric cars to the ride-hailing company’s drivers.

The rental firm already makes EVs available to Uber drivers, with a similar partnership in North America seeing nearly 50,000 of them renting Teslas via the scheme.

The firms are now looking to do the same in Europe, with London being the first city to benefit.

Hertz says a ‘wide range of suitable EVs will be on offer’, with the Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2 being two of the cars available. Paris and Amsterdam will be the next two European capital cities to benefit from the partnership.

Stephen Scherr, chief executive of Hertz, said: “Hertz continues to accelerate the drive toward sustainability and our partnership with Uber significantly advances that goal.

“By making EVs available to ride-share drivers, we will not only contribute to reducing emissions in European cities but also expand opportunities for people to experience the benefits of electrification.

“As Hertz invests to create one of the largest EV fleets globally, our Uber partnership will ensure that we continue to lead in the rapidly changing mobility landscape across Europe.”

Uber aims to be emissions-free in London by 2025, and by 2030 across mainland Europe and North America as a whole.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber chief executive officer, said: “As the largest mobility platform in the world, we know that our impact goes beyond our technology. Climate change is the most urgent global challenge which we must all tackle together – now is the time to accelerate.

“Expanding our partnership with Hertz into Europe will significantly boost our transition to zero-emissions, helping drivers reduce running costs and cleaning up urban transport. We aim to become a 100 per cent electric platform across Europe by 2030.”

Land Rovers are the used cars that dealers make the most money on, according to new data released today.

The British brand’s SUVs accounted for four out of the top five used cars with the biggest profit margins in 2022, according to Dealer Auction’s ‘Retail Margin Monitor’ report, which shows how much money on average car dealers made on the vehicles they sell.

The results are calculated by monitoring what the cars sold for on its dealer-to-dealer portal, and then what they’re retailed for on partner’s Auto Trader’s website.

Land Rovers have dominated the monthly list throughout the year, with the Land Rover Discovery 4 being the vehicle with the biggest profit margin, at £4,340. This Discovery was also the most profitable car in 2021, when the average margin on it was £3,060.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport came second with a £3,770 profit, followed by the Range Rover Sport (£3,710) and Range Rover Evoque (£3,560). The Audi Q5 was the only non-Land Rover to appear in the top five, with an average profit margin of £2,980.

In fact, out of the 10 most profitable used cars in 2022, only one wasn’t an SUV – the Audi A5, which rounded off the list, with a margin of £2,640.

Dealer Auction’s Kieran TeeBoon said: ‘We saw steadfast consistency in the top-selling models month-to-month in 2022, even outside of Land Rover. The Volvo XC60 [ranked eighth in the year], for example, appeared in all but one top 10 listing last year.

“In other areas of the table, we’re seeing premium brands continually trending high, but their most profitable models are changing. The BMW X5 that appeared in third place in 2021 did not rank at all in 2022. However, we saw the appearance of the BMW X3 in ninth spot, indicating the importance of using available data to stay on top of trends.”

Biggest used car profit margins 2022 (models)

Source: Dealer Auction

1. Land Rover Discovery 4 – £4,340
2. Land Rover Discovery Sport – £3,770
3. Range Rover Sport – £3,710
4. Range Rover Evoque – £3,560
5. Audi Q5 – £2,980
6. Kia Sorento – £2,770
7. Audi Q3 – £2,760
8. Volvo XC60 – £2,720
9. BMW X3 – £2,660
10. Audi A5 – £2,640

Mini has announced a new offer that gives customers of its Electric hatchback a free home charger.

Many manufacturers used to offer a free or subsided charger, but with the government vastly cutting the grants available for electric car owners, it’s something rarely offered these days.

However, Mini says it’s looking to promote ‘easier, more efficient charging at home’ with the offer of a complimentary free Pod Point charger, which also includes installation. The charger is three times faster than using a standard three-pin plug and allows the battery to be charged from flat to 80 per cent in three hours.

With the Pod Point app, owners are able to check their charging activity, track costs and schedule charging for off-peak times when electricity is generally cheaper.

The offer is available to all Mini Electrics ordered between January 1 and March 31. For customers that already have a home charger, or don’t have off-street parking, for example, Mini is offering a £750 towards a finance deposit.

Already included is a 12-month subscription to Mini Charging, which allows easier access to 11,000 charging points in the UK and 173,000 across Europe, including networks like Ionity, Instavolt and BP Pulse.

Introduced in 2020, the Mini Electric remains the British brand’s only EV, and is based on the firm’s best-selling three-door Hatch. Offering comparable performance to the petrol Cooper S version, it’s able to travel up to 145 miles on a single charge.

In the middle of January 2022, then-prime minister Boris Johnson trumpeted the thousands of skilled jobs the Britishvolt gigafactory was expected to create.

Almost exactly a year on, the site on the outskirts of Blyth, Northumberland, is deserted, save for two security guards who confirmed no workers were there.

Announcing the Government was backing the ambitious project with cash from the Automotive Transformation Fund 12 months ago, Mr Johnson said Britishvolt would employ 3,000 people directly – with another 5,000 in the pipeline.

It was thought the Government put in around £100 million towards the £3.8 billion project and, last January, Mr Johnson talked of the plant being part of the UK’s “global green industrial revolution”.

Britishvolt expected to make 300,000 battery units a year, fulfilling the demand for around one in four vehicles sold on the British market.

The plan was to develop the 95-hectare site, where a coal-burning power station once stood, and use Norwegian hydro-electric power transmitted 447 miles under the North Sea via the world’s longest inter-connector.

When it was first announced in late 2020, it was hoped the investment would be comparable in the North East to that of Nissan in Sunderland in the 1980s.

But the firm could not secure funding to take the project on and has gone into administration with the loss of 300 jobs.

Opposing political figures in the North East hope it could still happen.

Labour’s North of Tyne elected mayor, Jamie Driscoll, said: “This is still the best site in the country for a gigafactory and I’m sure we’ll see interest in it.”

And Ian Levy, Tory MP for red wall seat Blyth Valley, said he will ask the Government to continue its automotive fund commitment with a future developer.

He said: “The UK automotive industry’s need for a battery gigafactory remains and the site on the Blyth Estuary is still the best in the country with a large area, excellent power connectivity, a deep-water port, strong workforce supply and easy access to the national road network.”

Amazon says the next season of Clarkson’s Farm is still in production, despite the broadcaster’s comments about the Duchess of Sussex that were deemed misogynistic by critics.

While Amazon has been reportedly looking to part company with Jeremy Clarkson following his comments regarding the Duchess of Sussex in The Sun in December, a spokesperson has confirmed to the PA news agency that the third series of Clarkson’s Farm is “currently in production to launch at a later date”.

The spokesperson wouldn’t comment or add anything more to reports of ties between Amazon and Clarkson being cut, but the second series of Clarkson’s Farm will still be released on Amazon Prime Video on February 10.

Amazon’s statement followed a lengthy apology by Clarkson, published on Instagram yesterday, where he said: “I really am sorry. All the way from the balls of my feet to the follicles in my head. This is me putting my hands up.”

In the post, Clarkson, who also presents ITV’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire, said that ITV and Amazon “were incandescent”. He also said that “on Christmas morning, I emailed Harry and Meghan to apologise to them too”.

However, a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said yesterday: “On December 25 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. The contents of his correspondence were marked private and confidential.

“While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny.

“Unless each of his other pieces were also written ‘in a hurry’, as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”

Clarkson, 62, presented Top Gear between 1988 and 1998, then more prominently between 2002 and 2015, but was dropped by the BBC after an altercation with a member of production staff.

Along with fellow Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond and James May, he then moved to Amazon Prime Video to make The Grand Tour. He subsequently created Clarkson’s Farm, which documents his efforts to run an Oxfordshire farm that he bought in 2008.

A Ford Mustang Mach-E has been converted into a hearse, becoming one of the first electric vehicles of its type.

Created by specialist funeral vehicle supplier Coleman Milne, based in Bolton, it’s thought to be the first hearse based on Ford’s Mustang Mach-E SUV, and continues the brand’s long-running history of using Ford vehicles, predominantly the recently discontinued Mondeo.

Called the Etive after the Scottish river, it’s being tested at the Millbrook proving ground, where 40,000 miles of road usage trials are being carried out before it’s set to be type-approved by the end of March.

Its extended shape allows for up to seven passengers including three bearers, with the vehicle having a flat, full-length deck for a coffin and ‘ample space for personal tributes’ plus a glass roof. An electric tailgate is also available as an option.

Based on the ‘Standard Range’ Mach-E, it features the same 75kWh battery, with the firm saying it’s ‘capable of delivering an estimated range of up to 200 miles’, which is unsurprisingly less than the 273-mile range of the regular Mustang Mach-E.

Graham Clow, national sales director at Coleman Milne, said: “We have long championed the electric hearse at Coleman Milne and we’re proud to welcome the Etive hearse and limousine as the latest additions to our range.

“The excellent, long-standing relationship that we have with Ford enabled us to model the range on its Mach-E platform. The Mach-E is the perfect base for a comfortable, quiet and respectful hearse and limousine, while also providing funeral directors with all the benefits and innovations found in today’s electric vehicles.”

The Mustang Mach-E hearse will be offered in left- and right-hand-drive configurations for the UK and other European markets, with the first test vehicles set to be available from the middle of 2023.

Motorists could be stuck in congestion nearly twice as bad as current levels if self-driving cars become commonplace, a Government report warns.

Department for Transport (DfT) traffic projections for England and Wales show delays may rise by up to 85% from 2025 to 2060 in that scenario.

The analysis is based on connected and autonomous vehicles making up half of the car fleet by 2047, and a “fast uptake” of electric vehicles.

This would lead to more traffic by “increasing the mobility of the elderly and those who do not currently hold a driving licence”, according to the report.

But the document, published last month, claims “the ability to work or relax while travelling in a self-driving car” means occupants will be “more amenable to sitting in traffic”.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding told the PA news agency: “There are currently 5.9 million licence holders aged 70 or over in Britain, so we know the demand for mobility is there among those of a senior age.

“In the foreseeable future, automated vehicles offer the tantalising prospect of independence for the many millions more people who fall into the older age group but for whatever reason – cost, medical impairment – don’t currently drive.”

Mr Gooding predicted that the way in which autonomous technology is deployed will be significant.

He said: “If everyone insists on having their own driverless car then traffic volume and parking pressures will rise.

“However, if we are prepared to access these vehicles on-demand and forego personal ownership then we could have a win-win situation: quieter roads, fewer cars shared by the many, and cheaper transport.”

Recent analysis by traffic information supplier Inrix found that UK drivers lost an average of 80 hours last year due to congestion, a seven-hour increase from 2021.

London was found to be the world’s most congested city in 2022, with drivers in the capital spending an average of 156 hours sitting in traffic.

Writer and broadcaster Christian Wolmar, the author of Driverless Cars: On a Road To Nowhere, insisted that the Government should “not be trying to accommodate” the levels of traffic which it is feared self-driving cars will generate.

He said: “We should be doing everything in our power to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“The idea that you have a technological fix to congestion is nonsensical.”

Mr Wolmar described the suggestion there will be a “critical mass” of self-driving cars by 2047 as “fanciful”.

He added: “I think there is zero chance of there being driverless cars that operate in mixed areas with other traffic in any large amount or in any difficult situation.

“There has been very little real progress in terms of creating cars that could go anywhere in any conditions.

“It doesn’t look feasible.”

Fully driverless cars are not legally permitted in the UK but autonomous features are being developed by car makers.

Oxford-based technology company Oxbotica completed its first fully autonomous, driverless vehicle test on public roads in May 2022.

In August last year the DfT said it expected self-driving vehicles to be available for use by 2025.

The research was not welcomed by self-driving firm Wayve which was critical of the modelling used.

Kaity Fischer, its vice president of commercial, said: “Self-driving vehicles will be an integral part of a safer, more efficient and more sustainable transport system.

“The Government’s modelling was based on the private ownership of self-driving cars, but here at Wayve we are optimising our technology on electric vehicles for fleet customers in sectors like last-mile delivery and shared mobility services.

“Self-driving vehicles, when used in electric fleets, will ultimately lead to faster journey times and reduce the number of vehicles on the road, cutting congestion and emissions.”