Cities, unwisely lit with too much neon and floodlighting are robbing us and coming generations of a clear view of the night sky. It's getting worse at an alarming rate.

Weather satellites show that between 1993 and 2000 the areas of the UK unpolluted by light shrank by two thirds, the parts suffering most seriously increased by 14%. Soon more than half of Britain won't be able to see the Milky Way near their homes.