I live in the northumberland .. there's no traffic jams up here .. unless you're stuck behind a tractor!
Interestingly enough ... not even a peep of a mention of the Ford offerings (not too fussed to be fair ... quite dull inside)
Youll be fine then lol, you should go and test drive some at a dealer to see what you reckon.
I can't comment on the fords as don't have any experience with them. That said i did have an escort before my leon and it was a very sad day when I got rid of it, lucky the leon is so good really, had the escort for 5 years 73k miles and it only ever let me down twice, both times because it ran out of fuel outside my house. Oh and I also know that Focus RS's and steel framed buildings don't mix as our old salesman found out