IT'S the little car with the big car feel - and now it's available with five doors for the first time.

The Skoda Citigo is the Czech car company's smallest car to date. But don't let that put you off because it's a little cracker.

And once you are behind the wheel you won't even notice its diminutive dimensions because its clever design means there is plenty of interior space - even in the back.

The Citigo was launched as a three-door but in order to appeal to a wider market Skoda has now announced a version with rear doors to make access easier for back seat passengers.

And what is surprising is just how much room there is in the back for a car of this size.

With the driver's seat in the position I would normally have it in I tried out the seat immediately behind it and found my knees were not even touching the front seat. The height of the two front seats also means there is space underneath them, allowing rear seat passengers to place their legs beneath to stretch out.

As well as having a small body the Citigo has an equally small engine at just 1.0-litre and with only three cylinders. But while this might sound more suitable for a motorbike in reality it's ideal for the Citigo a car which - apart from being a little sluggish in first gear - is never really found wanting.

In fact it buzzs around town with gusto and on the motorway cruising at high speed is no effort at all.

And unlike a lot of small cars this one is impressively stable at high speed with a true big car feel to it and no unnerving characteristics. I really did like it.

From the high backed driver's seat you look immediately on to a large speedometer with a smaller rev counter to its left, both giving clear white on black figures.

What wasn't so easy to read was the window in the speedo giving the trip meter, outside temperature and clock. The black on green figures were fine at night but often totally illegible in daylight.

The Citigo Elegance has a detachable touch screen which clips onto the top of the dashboard and houses a satellite navigation system, on-board computer and Bluetooth feature.

Luggage space for a car of this size is good, with a deep boot capable of coping easily with a large suitcase or eight or nine bags of shopping. And if one of your bags contains eggs or other breakables there are useful hooks on each side of the boot area to suspend it from. If you holiday with more than one suitcase, however, you will probably have to fold down the rear seats - which split 60/40.

With the GreenTech version averaging almost 70 miles per gallon - thanks partly to a stop/start system - and with emissions so low you don't have to pay any road tax the 60bhp Citigo GreenTech is a very frugal car to run.

And what is surprising is its good fun to drive - not to mention a cinch to park.