When David Cameron was prime minister his constituency was just up the road from Swindon and the A40 ran down through his patch.

He even bought a Honda CR-V, built in Swindon to show faith with local business.

Now he did a variety of things as PM – some good or some bad – depending on your point of view. But what he didn’t do and all motorists will agree with you was that he did absolutely nothing to help the situation with the A40. It was a shambles when he took over that constituency and it was a shambles when he threw in the towel after the Brexit vote.

And now after one of the worse winters on record the state of the A40 with all its many potholes is a total disgrace from Cheltenham to the M40 motorway. Drive that road at night in either direction and you risk serious damage to your car and its wheels.

The big 4x4s are generally all right but the smaller cars are in danger, unless you are driving the new Citroen Cactus hatch. It’s got the sort of suspension, which is a delight, and the seating is as comfortable as in any car you can find.

The suspension is known by the trademark of ‘progressive hydraulic cushions’ and on a relatively short test drive it was excellent.

As Citroen like to boast about it I found the scruffiest lane around and made sure that I tackled every pothole, other than the real big ones and the Cactus handled it like a dream.

The seats were excellent as well and I think they would have been ideal for a 350 mile trip too, but that we will have to find out later in the year.

The new Cactus is the one that replaces the model, which had the plastic panels on the side. Surprisingly people liked it because it was different from the run of the mill. Anything to get away from the jelly mould effect which is prevalent in modern cars.

There are eight Cactus versions which start at around £17,000 going through to just over £21,000, and you get the feeling that Citroen is looking upmarket. Well its certainly fresh with bags of style and should do well in a market where people are looking for a middle of the road motor.

There are a variety of engines of both petrol and diesel to suit. Emissions vary from 94 to 110 CO2g/km.

The three-cylinder petrol engines are nice and smooth while the diesel is a bit rough by comparison. There is an auto box which is pretty smooth but some critics do say it is a bit slow to change gear.

Citroen have sorted out the road noise which makes the model a pleasure to drive and the Cactus handles well both in town and country and there is plenty of kit on board, as there is in nearly every new car these days.

Each model has the 7.0in touchscreen system which includes a DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity and Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and MirrorLink smartphone mirroring. Top-of-the-range Flair models have a good sat-nav and Citroën’s Connect Box assistance system.

The top speed on the middle models will give you about 115mph and 0-60mph is between nine and 10 seconds.

On the fuel front you’ll get more than 60 miles to the gallon.

To make it easier to own a Cactus, Citroen run special financial plans which are designed to fit individual budgets. You can actually have a new car every two or three years through monthly payments.

Potential customers should go to www.citroen.co.uk or contact their Citroen dealer.