If the roads have felt a little busier than usual in the past year, that’s because traffic reached an all-time high.

According to data from the Department for Transport (DfT), car traffic increased by 1.3 per cent to a record 235.5 billion vehicle miles in the 12 months leading up to June 2017.

It’s a similar story for vans too, with LCV traffic climbing by 3.6 per cent to a new peak of 49.8 billion miles.

In contrast, the number of miles racked up by lorries fell by 1.5 per cent to 16.5 billion.

As it stands, cars make up almost four in five vehicles on UK roads (78 per cent), while vans represent one in six (15.3 per cent) and one in 20 are lorries (5.1 per cent).

Britain’s roads have been used more than ever before in the past year or so, with traffic rising on almost every type of road; only traffic on urban ‘A’ roads stayed pretty much unchanged.

New record traffic levels were seen on motorways (68 billion vehicle miles), rural ‘A‘ roads (94.5 billion vehicle miles) and rural minor roads (46 billion vehicle miles).

The most dramatic increase uncovered by DfT’s figures shows a 69.7 per cent rise in van traffic since June 1997; something that served as further evidence of the UK's thriving online economy, in the view of the RAC.

A spokesperson for the motor organisation explained: “Looking over a 20-year period, this must be proof that the nation's ever increasing internet shopping habit is changing the type of traffic on our roads.”

In comparison, the number of miles totted up by cars increased by 12.6 per cent over the same period.

The RAC spokesperson also suspected that the notable increase in rural ‘A’ road and minor road use meant that major routes were struggling to cope with the volume of vehicles, pushing motorists to seek alternative routes to avoid jams.

Ben Robb, brand manager at The Fuelcard People, adds: “Congestion is an inevitable symptom of traffic being at record levels so we hope the government continues to invest in road improvement programmes.”