Anne-Marie Duff narrates a new documentary series for BBC Radio 4, telling stories of survival and resilience on the UK's ring roads - in towns & cities often overlooked.

The ring road is the circulatory system of the city - a perilous place where life can seem fragile, but one which also bears witness to tales of great resilience and kindness.

In this first episode, Coventry is in the spotlight. Among the stories, the murder of Eritrea-born Genet Kidane who was pushed to her death from a bridge over the ring road. Also, one man's miraculous survival after a head-on collision with a car going the wrong way round the ring road.

As drivers jostle for space in the busy lanes of traffic, the ring road is contested in other ways too. In Coventry a massive development planned just adjacent to the ring road has provoked a fierce debate about the future of the city.

Also in the series, stories from the roads of Wolverhampton and Bedford.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.