Southall, a 19th century suburb of London, lies to the far west of the city centre. Originally a major industrial area with a massive gas production plant and many factories, by late last century its character and population had changed completely. It’s now known as ‘Little India’.

Cheap car hire in Southall is provided by a number of companies and is useful for local journeys as the area has no Underground station. There is less industrial activity nowadays with the closure of many factories and the area’s development into a dormitory town for Heathrow Airport workers.

Southall Broadway has undergone a massive change from a quiet shopping area in the 1950s to a bustling, vibrant replica of an Indian street. Lined with small shop windows glowing with exotic saris and silks, its pavements are crammed with shoppers and street stalls and even its Art Deco cinema shows mainly Bollywood movies.

Ninety per cent of Southall’s residents are South Indian or Somali. Brought to England to work in a rubber factory, the migrants created a unique and fascinating community. The area is no stranger to incomers, as, when the Welsh mines began to close in the early years of the last century, many Welsh families set up home there.

In this commercial district, car rental in Southall is no problem. Out to the west beyond the airport are the towns and meadows along the River Thames, with Runnymede the site of the signing of the Magna Carta which gave all Englishmen their common law rights. Car hire in Southall is a convenient way to travel.