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Sobule was part of a mid-’90s cohort of clever songwriters that included Juliana Hatfield, Lisa Loeb and Liz Phair, whose success could be seen as a reaction to the gloomy, male-dominated grunge craze of a few years earlier.

"This is the worst-case scenario," said Jay Hatfield, chief executive at Infrastructure Capital Advisors.

Most of the motorists sitting bumper-to-bumper on Hatfield Road would not have been able to point to the bridge on a map a decade ago.

Alexandra Hirst, a solicitor from Boodle Hatfield, a family law firm with offices in Mayfair, and many wealthy clients, expressed concern that individuals would be reluctant to give details of their private lives in court, knowing that reporters would be listening to "highly personal evidence".

She thinks the cost of living crisis is to blame for bookings being down where she works at the William Boosey in Hatfield Peverel.