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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Neil Lancefield PA & Kirsty Bosley

The city that beats London as the worst place in the UK for traffic jams

Drivers in Edinburgh face the worst traffic congestion in the UK, according to new figures.

Analysis by sat-nav manufacturer TomTom suggested that a typical rush hour journey in the Scottish capital takes 40% longer compared with free-flow conditions.

London is the second-worst city for congestion with an average extra travel time of 37%, followed by Bournemouth, Hull and Belfast with 34% each.

Edinburgh (Getty Images)

On average, UK motorists driving in peak hours spend an extra five-and-a-half days stuck in traffic each year.

Middlesbrough was found to be the least congested UK town or city analysed by TomTom.

A 10-year plan to further improve traffic flow in the town - including a new "park and ride" railway station - was announced in December 2018.

Edinburgh was ranked 27th in the world in terms of congestion.

File pic of traffic on the M42 (Birmingham Mail)

Mumbai took top spot, with drivers facing an average of 65% extra travel time in the Indian city.

Heiko Schilling, head of navigation at TomTom, said: "The UK was home to nine cities in the top 100 most congested cities globally.

"Overall congestion is up by an average of 1% (year on year) in the UK - a mild increase but an increase nonetheless. Only Manchester, Glasgow and Portsmouth have seen congestion levels improve.

"These results show that there's still a lot of work to be done."

He added: "Advances in journey planning, autonomous vehicles and car sharing schemes all promise to alleviate congestion in Edinburgh and other cities in the UK and around the world."

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