The system — adopted by town planners across Britain — has created a “traffic free-for-all” in busy shopping areas, putting pedestrians and cyclists at risk, it was claimed.

The Conservative peer Lord Holmes of Richmond said that at least 14 local councils had scrapped shared space schemes by reintroducing zebra crossings and segregated cycle lanes.

He made the comments as experts prepared to publish a government-backed review of the system this year. The review, led by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, is expected to be critical of the process, saying that planners often fail to ensure an “inclusive environment” is created that benefits motorists and pedestrians at the same time. It suggested that the Highway Code may have to be rewritten to tell drivers how to approach shared spaces.

Shared space was developed in the Netherlands in the 1970s to declutter streets. It seeks to blur the lines between pedestrians and vehicles by taking out kerbs, surface markings, crossings and signs.

Drivers are supposed to reduce their speed because of uncertainty over who has priority. In some areas, zebra crossings have been replaced by “courtesy crossings” that have no basis in law and rely on the goodwill of motorists. About 100 roads have been adapted in Britain, figures suggest.

Safety groups have been highly critical of the development, claiming that it puts pedestrians at risk, particularly those with disabilities or sight problems. MPs from the Commons women and equalities select committee have begun an inquiry into shared spaces and other aspects of the “built environment”.

In a written submission to the inquiry, Lord Holmes, a former Paralympic swimmer, said that shared space had “absolutely failed to achieve an inclusive experience”. He added: “Shared space is not a safe place nor a pleasant place; it has turned high streets into traffic-free-for-alls; it has caused confusion, chaos and catastrophe.”

A number of deaths have been linked to shared space schemes. In 2012 David Thompson, a pensioner, died when he was hit by a bus while crossing a junction without traffic lights or road signs in Coventry.

Lord Holmes reported that 14 schemes had been scrapped in recent years. These included a zebra crossing that was reinstated at a cost of more than £100,000 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. Another crossing was reinstated in Bath after the council was warned that pulling it out had created a safety risk.

In its submission to the inquiry, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation said that the Highway Code may have to be rewritten to make sure that drivers give proper consideration to pedestrians in shared space areas.

“There may be a requirement to consider how we balance the needs of people driving vehicles and other people in certain areas of our built-up areas, in particular where those needs interact,” it said. “There are a number of ways that this may be achieved, including changes to the Highway Code . . . or to primary legislation.”

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “We are absolutely clear that the needs of the whole community, including disabled people, need to be considered by councils looking to introduce shared space schemes.”

A prototype of a flying car being developed by the Google co-founder Larry Page has been spotted — and it’s not nearly as sleek as Back to the Future’s DeLorean DMC-12. But some experts believe that the vehicle represents the future of your commute, even if it does not let you time travel.

The prototype from Zee.Aero, one of two flying-car companies said to be funded by Mr Page, was seen at the airport at Hollister, California, where the business has a hangar.

Employees of a nearby aero turbines company said that they had seen the aircraft take off vertically, hover about 7.5m above the tarmac, then land. “It sounded like an electric motor running, just a high-pitched whine,” Steve Eggleston, who took the photograph, said.

Zee.Aero would not comment but the aircraft photographed resembles drawings that the company submitted in a patent three years ago. The design cannot be properly analysed from the image, but experts said the fixed wing must incorporate horizontal rotors to provide the necessary thrust for a vertical take-off. This would fit with the old patent drawings, and the propeller pictured at the back would provide forward motion.

There is also speculation the vehicle could be self-flying, or semi-autonomous. The “car” is not roadworthy, with relatively tiny wheels, but gets the name because owners could take off and land from a driveway and use it day to day.

The prototype is not the only flying car with vertical take-off abilities in development but is considered significant because of Mr Page’s record as a tech visionary.

After decades of appearances in popular culture, such as the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and working models dating back to the 1940s that never took off commercially, experts say mass-market flying cars are coming much closer. Reasons include better, more efficient batteries, lower-cost aviation electronics, lower manufacturing costs and better automated systems — the consequences of advances in drone design.

There’s no price or launch date for Zee.Aero’s vehicle but companies such as AeroMobil and Terrafugia plan to sell flying cars for several hundred thousand pounds.

Tim Robinson, editor of Aerospace magazine, said: “The idea of flying cars has been there as long as there have been cars and planes. However, the technology really seems to be converging and now you’ve got people like Page and Airbus involved, there is serious momentum.”

The Airbus subsidiary A³ is working on a self-piloted flying car for one passenger or cargo and seems to have a similar vision to Mr Page. Despite the received wisdom that flying cars are best suited to longer-distance travel in relatively quiet airspace, the company’s Project Vahana vehicle is designed to address “rising transportation challenges in metropolitan areas”.

The company says that motorists in London spend the equivalent of 35 working days a year idling in traffic. It is aiming to fly a full-size prototype before the end of next year and to have a market-ready vehicle by 2020. It believes that automated flying cars could revolutionise urban travel for millions of people in as little as ten years.

Rodin Lyasoff, A³ chief executive, said: “We seek to help enable truly vertical cities by opening up urban airways. We believe full automation will allow us to achieve higher safety by minimising human error. Our aircraft will follow predetermined flight paths, with only minor deviations if obstacle avoidance is needed. We believe this mode of operation will be compatible with future airspace management systems and will allow more aircraft to share the sky.”

Google buys system that controls gadgets with just a look
Google knows what you look at online, but it could soon find out what you’re looking at in everyday life, too, after it acquired a Silicon Valley startup that has pioneered eye-tracking technology.

The system from Eyefluence lets you use your eyes as a mouse while wearing a virtual-reality headset or augmented-reality glasses, enabling the real world to be seen through a computer display. It could be used to play games such as whack-a-mole with eye movements, or take a picture of something just by looking at it. It could also be a lifeline to people with disabilities, who could use it to control devices such as their television.

Mark Skilton, professor of practice at Warwick Business School, said that Google may use the technology to collect and profit from data on what users look at. Facebook and Microsoft have also been investing heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality.

Once the preserve of hippies, the campervan is booming in popularity as staycationers holiday closer to home.

Far from the “turn on, tune in, drop out” vibe of the vehicles 50 years ago, motorhomes are being sold for six figure sums, with everything from gas hobs to wine coolers included.

The “glamping” revolution, which has added a little luxury to camping, is being replicated in the motorhome market. The National Caravan Council (NCC) said that motorhome registrations were exceptionally high last year at 12,332, compared with 10,572 the previous year.

Kevin Lafferty, of Forestry Commission Scotland, which manages camping and caravanning sites across Scotland, said that modern campers are looking for a more comfortable way of enjoying the outdoors. He said: “There has been a significant increase in the number of motorhomes and requests for provision for them. How people use the outdoors and stay overnight is changing.

“In areas such as Loch Ness, there are a lot more motorhomes than there were five or ten years ago and the sites are more geared up for that.”

A motorhome company has unveiled a palace on wheels that costs almost twice as much as the average English house.

The Morelo Empire Liner has underfloor heating, a rainwater shower, double bedroom and even a garage.

It is powered by a 7.7-litre engine that develops 300bhp — twice as much torque as a Lamborghini Aventador.

The 35-ft motorhome, described as a “super-liner”, has a £378,200 price tag.

It comes with a large panoramic roof, a well-equipped kitchen and luxury bathroom with ceramic lavatory. Sky TV can also be shown on board.

It has been in production for a year, it will be on display at the Motorhome & Caravan Show, which starts today at the Birmingham NEC.

Andreas Wolfer-Heimann, international sales manager for Morelo, said: “We believe motorhome enthusiasts, and the public alike, will be impressed by the craftsmanship and attention to detail.”

HG Wells may not have chosen the road from Rotherham to Rainham for his time machine. However, the zero-emission hydrogen car of the future completed its first long-distance public outing yesterday from a wind-powered electricity-to-gas refuelling station in South Yorkshire, arriving 180 miles and three and a half hours later just east of Dagenham, to be recharged on solar power. It was a good job the day was breezy and sunny.

Today is the official opening of Britain’s 15th hydrogen fuelling station, at Rainham, on the site of the old Ford car factory.

Toyota, Hyundai and Honda have bet that hydrogen, piped into fuel cells where it reacts with oxygen in the air to drive electric motors and emit waste steam, is the long-term replacement for the internal combustion engine.

Graham Cooley says that cars running on electricity have a two-speed future: short-range inner city cars that run on electricity stored in batteries; and long-range electric cars powered by fuel cells that already can run 350 miles on a 5kg fill-up of high-pressure hydrogen gas.

Dr Cooley is chief executive of ITM Power, an AIM-quoted company that owns and operates fuel-cell refuelling forecourts. It opened the most northerly station in Rotherham off the M1 last year, another public station in Teddington, west London, this year, and now Rainham. They use electricity off the grid to make hydrogen, replacing the power they use with renewable energy, in Rainham’s case from solar panels.

ITM will install its first hydrogen pump at a conventional filling station at the Shell’s Cobham services on the M25 in Surrey. “It is important that we have a major retailer involved and this will make it feel more real,” Dr Cooley said.

Hydrogen is going through the same pains as battery electric vehicles: not enough recharging infrastructure to persuade manufacturers to build the cars or to persuade the consumers to buy them; and the cost, which for hydrogen includes the fuel.

Toyota’s Mirai costs more than £60,000 and gas costs £10 a kilo, which means £50 to fill up, equating to about 60 miles per gallon in conventional terms. You may think you are saving the planet, but they are not much cheaper to run than a fuel-efficient petrol or diesel.

Simon Bourne, co-founder of ITM and its chief technology officer, says the price per unit comes down when refuelling stations are dealing with dozens of visits a day rather than the present handful per week.