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Critics call it "carspreading". In the UK and across Europe, cars are steadily becoming longer, wider and heavier. Consumers clearly like them – a lot. Big cars are seen as practical, safe and stylish, and sales are growing. So, why are some cities determined to clamp down on them - and are they right to do so?

Paris is renowned for many things. Its monuments, such as the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. Its broad, leafy avenues and boulevards, its museums and art galleries, its fine cuisine. And its truly appalling traffic.

Over the past 20 years, the city authorities have been trying to tackle the problem, by introducing low-traffic and low-emission zones, by promoting public transport and cycling – and most recently by clamping down on big cars.

In October 2024 on-street parking charges for visiting "heavy" vehicles were trebled following a public vote, taking them from €6 to €18 for a one-hour stay in the centre, and from €75 to €225 for six hours.

"The larger it is, the more it pollutes," said the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, before the vote. The new restrictions, she claimed, would "accelerate the environmental transition, in which we are tackling air pollution".

A few months later, the town hall claimed the number of very heavy cars parking on the city streets had fallen by two-thirds.

Cities elsewhere are taking note, including in the UK. Cardiff council has already decided to increase the cost of parking permits for cars weighing more than 2,400kg - the equivalent of roughly two Ford Fiestas.

The Labour-controlled authority said, "These heavier vehicles typically produce more emissions, cause greater wear and tear on roads, and critically pose a significantly higher risk in the event of a road traffic collision."

To begin with, the higher charges will only apply to a small minority of vehicle models, but Cardiff plans to lower the weight threshold over time. Other local authorities are mulling similar steps.

But many owners say they are reliant on big cars.

Matt Mansell, a father of three based in Guildford, runs a technology company, as well as a property development business, and says he needs his Land Rover Defender 110 for ferrying around clients and children.

"I need to have enough space to put children in, with all of their kit - also, you can fit a door or a three-metre length of pipe in it," he says.

"It's very much a utility vehicle, but it's presentable."

There is no question cars in the UK and Europe have been getting bigger over the years. Since 2018, the average width of new models on sale here has risen from 182cm to 187.5cm, according to data from Thatcham Research – an organisation that evaluates new cars on behalf of the insurance industry.

The average weight, meanwhile, has increased from 1,365kg to 1,592kg over the same period.

This is not just a recent phenomenon. Data compiled by the International Council for Clean Transportation shows the average width of cars on European markets grew by nearly 10cm between 2001 and 2020. Length increased by more than 19cm.

Some critics argue this is a worrying trend, because there simply isn't enough room on Britain's crowded, often narrow roads or in town........

© BBC