Saudi women celebrated taking the wheel for the first time in decades yesterday as the kingdom overturned the world's only ban on female motorists.

The much-trumpeted move is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to modernise the conservative state — but it has been dented by the jailing of female activists who long opposed the driving ban. Women in Riyadh and other cities began zipping around streets bathed in amber light soon after the ban was lifted at midnight, with some blasting music from behind the wheel.