Latest government figures show that traffic levels rose by 7 billion kilometres to 506 billion kilometres in 2006 – a year-on-year rise of 1.4 per cent.

It is the first year that traffic in Great Britain has passed the 500 billion kilometre mark.

Cars accounted for 79 per cent of all motor vehicle traffic, rising 1.3 per cent over the past year but light commercial vehicle traffic has shown the greatest growth in recent years – rising 39 per cent since 1996.

The figures also show that British roads are becoming more congested with average waiting times on the busiest routes rising from 3.78 to 4.11 minutes per ten miles.

Fridays are the most congested time to travel and Sundays are the least busy for traffic.

CLICK HERE to read the full Department for Transport report.