MP TIM Collins championed the cause of the rural car driver when he delivered his most important speech since becoming shadow transport secretary.

Mr Collins received a standing ovation for his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth on Monday.

The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale drew on the experience of his constituents in rural areas to highlight his points.

"Our first principle is that we believe that individual choice is a virtue not a vice, and using the car is not always a sin.

"We know that for millions of our fellow citizens - rural residents in areas from Cornwall to Cumbria and across Scotland and Wales, for the elderly, the disabled, and many commuters into our big cities - the car isn't a luxury.

The car isn't frivolity."

Pledging to call off what he called "Labour's war on the motorist".

Mr Collins justified his stance by pointing to the shortcomings of other forms of transport, particularly in South Lakeland.

"My constituents in the Lake District like many others don't have access in some cases to more than one bus a week.

"They have no choice but to use their cars to drive many miles in order to get to work and to access the dwindling number of public services which this Government provides to rural residents."

He also promised to work closely with disability groups to improve access for disabled people to all forms of transport.

Although Mr Collins focused on the motorist, he also told the conference that transport policy must play its part in improving the environment and said the Conservatives would work with the motor industry to promote cleaner, greener engines, and would be " unambiguous enthusiasts for rail".

He also refused to condemn the privatisation of train operations, which he said had resulted in the " first sustained increases in half a century in both freight and passenger traffic by rail".

Pledging to come forward with proposals for the future of rail later this year, he promised to have listened to British people and to have learned "what worked and what did not work".