‘You won’t be late will you Mummy?’ She asks her brown eyes wide. She had gone off to school so excited, today my little angel literally gets to be an angel in the nativity and my heart swelled with love as I had kissed her goodbye and set off to work.

WILL THESE BLOODY TRAFFIC LIGHTS NEVER CHANGE! I am ok, 15 minutes in hand and just a short distance to go but in this driving rain and endless line of red brake lights it feels impossible.

We crawl forward 100 yards and there is hope the lights are green. ‘Oh Hell!’ A banksman in all high viz is signalling for a lorry to reverse out and holds up the traffic in every direction with a cheery smile despite the rain. All I can hear is the beep, beep, beep of his reversing warning.

At last the lorry moves out of the line of traffic and yes, you’ve guessed it the lights are red again.

I drop my head into my hands. Then I hear the sirens in the distance and hope against hope that they are going a different way. Please just for once could something go right.

But no there they are all blue lights flashing in my rear view. We pull over and all I can think of is the hurt in my little girl’s eyes if I don’t get there.

A policeman walks past and then A MIRACLE - with a smile he waves us forward and past the lights and I am on my way.

Clear road ahead, now I just have to hope there is a space left in the car park.