"A lot of cash ISAs don't have a CAT mark, but that doesn't mean they're not good."If you can afford to give three months' notice before withdrawing funds, Julian Hodge Bank offers 7.3 per cent interest on its mini cash ISA, according to financial data provider Moneyfacts This account has no CAT mark. Other accounts forgo the CAT mark because they have additional conditions, perhaps requiring a minimum deposit of the full £3,000 ISA allowance.You should look at the conditions of an account before investing. The interest rate offered may look higher than it will be in the long-term if the institution is paying a one-off bonus. This, says Mr Modray, is a crafty marketing invention which gets the account into the best-buy tables temporarily. If you do opt for this incentive, make sure you are free to move your money away when the bonus has been paid.So watch out for accounts which charge a penalty for transferring your ISA to another provider. Cheltenham & Gloucester and West Bromwich Building Society, for example, charge £30 to do this.The vast majority of cash ISAs pay interest at a variable rate which will fluctuate roughly in line with Bank of England rates.

But, most cash ISAs which lock your money away for a year or more pay a fixed rate of interest. Fixed rates give you more security, although some economists believe UK base rates have further to rise.Before taking out a mini cash ISA, you should consider whether you are likely to make use of the stocks and shares element of that year's ISA allowance. By opening a mini cash ISA, you effectively limit the amount of your share-based investment that tax year to £3,000, which is the ceiling for a mini equity ISA. With a maxi ISA, your limit would be £7,000 but the interest paid on the cash portion of a maxi ISA tends to be less.Fund management group Fidelity offers a wide range of funds in its maxi ISA, but only pays 4.8 per cent interest on cash. Virgin Direct pays the same rate of interest for cash in its maxi ISA as it does in its mini cash ISA - 5.5 per cent. The disadvantage is that Virgin only offers a choice of two investment funds for the equity portion of the maxi ISA. Among mini cash ISAs, Smile, the online bank owned by Cooperative Bank, offers the highest rate paid on an instant access account at 7.25 per cent interest on balances from £1.

"If you are IT-familiar, you should consider Smile," says Ms North.Culkin Pattinson: 020-7734 9899Chase de Vere: 01225 469371Smile: www.smile.co.ukJulian Hodge Bank: 0800 0283746Virgin Direct: 08456 102040Fidelity: 0800 414171. Connex, the French-owned train company serving millions of south-coast commuters, is to cut 120 trains a day from its summer timetable, starting next week. Connex, the French-owned train company serving millions of south-coast commuters, is to cut 120 trains a day from its summer timetable, starting next week. The company says a shortage of drivers has forced the move, which will infuriate commuters on some of Britain's busiest rail lines serving such towns as Brighton and Eastbourne.The Government's Strategic Rail Authority, however, is likely to approve the reduction on the South Central franchise, arguing that it is better to run an "emergency" timetable than cancel trains on a repeat basis.The summer timetable, which begins next Sunday, now sees 1,641 trains a day instead of the 1,761 originally planned. Worst hit will be services to the outer London suburbs.Connex, owned by Vivendi, has already been fined for cutting between 200 and 300 trains a day thanks to a shortage of drivers and industrial action by the drivers' union Aslef, which has negotiated a shorter working week.The company is set to incur further penalties for the new reduced timetable. It is presently bidding to renew its contract for two of the busiest commuter franchises serving south London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex and carrying 200,000 passengers a day.A Strategic Rail Authority spokesperson said: "The situation is not ideal but we would rather passengers knew which trains were running and at what time than have repeat cancellations."Meanwhile, Richard Branson's Virgin train service has announced that extensive engineering works at London's Euston station will mean a slightly reduced timetable over the summer.. Britain is heading for half a million traffic jams a year - a rate of nearly 10,000 a week - according to research carried out for the AA.

Britain is heading for half a million traffic jams a year - a rate of nearly 10,000 a week - according to research carried out for the AA. It shows the average time taken to clear accidents and get drivers on the move again is increasing by 10 minutes each year and is now one hour and 49 minutes. London's orbital road, the M25, tops the incident blackspots, accounting for 90 per cent of the worst. Motorists in the Midlands face the longest delays, with waiting times increasing by an average of 20 minutes a year.The impact of 750,000 accidents that have caused delays in the past three years was examined for the AA's Quarterly Traffic Index. This showed that traffic jams on Britain's roads are slower than ever to break up, leading to mass inconvenience and a cost of millions to industry in lost working time.The AA policy director, John Dawson, said: "The UK's transport policymakers have failed to grasp both the number and the impact of these unexpected blockages Without prompt action, we're on the road to gridlock. The authorities must focus on detecting and clearing incidents faster The Government has to put more money into clearing traffic. At the moment it takes £36bn in tax from the road user but returns less than £6bn in investment in roads and local transport."One of the most important things it needs to invest in is keeping drivers informed of problems ahead. Often, by the time the motorist hits the trouble spot, it is too late to choose another route."It can also mitigate the misery by sending rescue vehicles to the incident more quickly.