The Mayor of Paris is very sensitive to any and every topic related to the environment and ecology.

One of his first decisions in office was to find ways to introduce methods to reduce the number of cars on the capital’s roads. This led to enlarging the routes for buses and bicycles on the main Parisian avenues and the current construction of a tramway all around the city.

As only 10 per cent of the traffic in the city is due to inner-Paris inhabitants and commuters are not ready to give up their cars, you can imagine how the traffic is these days in Paris.

But this was not the only problem the Mayor was seeking to quell. Supplying shops in town has been cited as another environmental issue.

Trucks generate pollution and dramatically increase congestion downtown, the argument goes. So Paris authorities decided to change all this: introducing exclusion zones for lorries, creating special areas for deliveries in the streets and other measures.

Of course all of this is meant with good intentions, as living in a cloud of fumes is not the most cherished dream of the modern urban dweller. But in my view, it might just worsen the situation: the prospect of using tricycles for directly delivery to shops has even been advocated.

The once hyped concept of an outside logistics centre for local distribution (and Rungis was a perfect place for this) is sadly no longer fashionable.

It is no surprise therefore, that the views of the market’s traders are travelling increasingly towards a duplication of the London experience. Believe it or not, they are asking for a congestion charge. After all, a capital remains a capital.