New figures published by satnav operator TomTom have revealed the growing impact of congestion on road users across the UK.

According to the organisation's latest Traffic Index report, the last 12 months have witnessed a considerable increase in traffic congestion across the UK's urban areas.

Overall, average delays on journey times for travellers throughout the UK's 17 largest cities last year were shown to be 27 per cent (up from 26 per cent in 2012) more than the time taken in free-flowing traffic.

Meanwhile, local roads were shown to cost drivers more than twice as much in delays than main roads – reporting an additional journey time of 32 per cent compared to 15 per cent respectively.

Congestion levels were shown to be worst in Belfast, with the Northern Irish capital coming out on top in terms of the average increase in journey times caused by congested roads, at 36 per cent during the day and up to 78 per cent in rush hour conditions.

London took second position for the longest delays at 34 per cent and 63 peak over the same periods, while Edinburgh, Bristol and Brighton made up the remainder of the top five worst-performing cities.

Rounding out the UK's top ten were Manchester, Leeds-Bradford, Sheffield, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Overall, British commuters were now shown to be losing on average ten working days per year simply being stuck in traffic, rising from nine days in 2013.

Harold Goddijn, chief executive officer at TomTom, commented: "Traffic congestion is nothing new and continues to be a global challenge. The traditional responses to congestion – such as building new roads or widening existing ones – are no longer proving to be effective.

"Real-time traffic information can help drivers to find the quickest shortcut on their journey and assist governments to make smarter decisions to improve traffic flow for their cities."

Looking for help to eliminate Fuel fraud?

Clare Lafferty of The Fuelcard People can help you find the best fuel card for you and your business, which will help you to have the peace of mind that you are helping to eliminate the chances of fuel purchase fraud by your drivers.

The Texaco Fastfuel fuel card is just one of the many products Clare can offer to help you and your business to increase the security of your fuel purchases.

Posted by Clare Lafferty, Account Manager, The Fuelcard People.