The recent bad weather has certainly played havoc with my plans, revealed in the last issue, to nudge our long-term Kangoo’s fuel consumption figure up to the magic 50mpg.

The mpg figure had been hovering at around 46mpg and I had intended to drive very carefully and frugally to see what difference it would make.

Down came the snow and, suddenly, all thoughts of frugality went out of the window.

I came down one day to find the Kangoo (which sits on my drive as my garage is filled with my precious Harley-Davidson) covered in snow and ice, so I switched on the engine and waited for five minutes while it all melted.

I’ve also been reduced to a series of short-haul journeys, all of which have had a marked effect on my fuel bills.

At the last count, my van was returning a (relatively) pitiful 40.26mpg.

I say relatively because 15 years ago such a figure would have been described as admirable.

How times change.

This problem apart, the Kangoo thundered on through hail and snow.

With the seats upright in the back, there is around 1.5 cubic metres of loadspace still available and I made sure that all my emergency gear, such as a shovel, tow-rope and jump leads, were on-board at all times, a fact which came in handy several times as my neighbours’ cars floundered.

The Kangoo’s driving position is pretty upright but there is plenty of legroom, even for a lanky 6ft 3in specimen like me and the long journeys that I have managed to complete have proved that this van won’t provoke any nasty back twinges, unlike some models I could mention.

The poor old Kangoo is in a pretty sorry state at present, liberally spattered with mud and grime – but I’ll have to get it spruced up soon as by the time you read this report, we will have swapped it for the Kangoo’s smaller brother, the Kangoo Compact, for a three-month assessment of that van.

My only complaint – and it’s a pretty pathetic one to be honest – is that the 12-volt take-off is situated right next to the handbrake lever, which means that the two tend to get tangled up when I try and charge my mobile phone while on the move.

That apart the Kangoo has proved an ideal friend.