IS IT just me or has anyone noticed how bad the traffic has got inUxbridge? I’d love nothing more than to walk to school but unfortunately I’m a school run mum who adds to the traffic chaos in the morning. Oxford Road, Park Road and Cowley Road are virtually at gridlock during the morning and evening rush hour.

It seems everyone has somewhere to be whether it’s travelling to or from the M40, the M25 the M4 the A40 or the airport.

It’s brilliant that Uxbridge has become a hub for some great head office businesses and I’m sure that our transport links were part of the reason they were attracted to the town in the first place, but it seems that the lack of parking and traffic controls are a toxic mix.

The middle lane on the Oxford Road into and out of Uxbridge flows freely during the day but come rush-hour it’s a carpark.

Driving into Uxbridge from the M40 you have an extra lane that fades to nothing, plus if it’s dark you get dazzled by the floodlights from one of the restaurants that are meant to light up the venue but instead are angled towards oncoming traffic.

Surely this road is wide enough to add an additional lane with overhead electronic traffic controls that can be switched to manage the flow between incoming and outgoing traffic at peak times? Is it time Uxbridge had a park and ride scheme maybe?

l Thank goodness next week is half term meaning that the roads of the borough will be a little quieter.

Locally we’re very well placed for visiting theme parks, for younger children we have Legoland on our doorstep in Windsor, then for older kids Thorpe Park and Chessington aren’t too far away.

All the parks are starting to gear up for their 2012 season at the moment and when we drove past Legoland last week it was a hive of activity despite it not opening until next month.

This year Legoland has a hotel opening in the grounds plus the great miniature area – Miniland – has a brand new Star Wars section. Miniland was always our favourite area to visit when we had Legoland annual passes when Alex was younger.

Over one and a half million Lego bricks have been transformed into seven chronological scenes from the Star Wars movies so that kids can trace all the famous events in the saga.

I think that is going to be just as popular with the big kids as the little ones!

Chessington has a Madagascar themed live show new this season and Thorpe Park has a brand new ride called The Swarm which is hailed to be Europe’s tallest.

If you’re looking for inspiration on somewhere fun to take the kids next week during half term, Chessington is running African Adventures where there will be appearances from noisy lion Raa Raa as well as crafts, music and the attractions Hocus Pocus Hall, Bubbleworks and Seastorm will be open.

Not exactly a theme park, but the charming Bekonscot model village and railway in Beaconsfield will be opening its doors for the season on Saturday, February 11.

This is a charming venue of 1.5 acres filled with a ride on railway and six model towns complete with lakes, railways and castles.

If you’ve never been it’s well worth a trip plus you can tie it up with a visit to Zoom soft play centre that is housed in the old cinema in the high street in the new town in Beaconsfield.