Sheffield named UK's sixth most congested city, with drivers taking more than 20 minutes to travel six miles

Drivers in Sheffield take on average 20.2 minutes to travel just six miles, with an average speed of 14mph during rush hour, according to a study by StressFreeCarRental.com. That put Sheffield sixth in the table of the UK’s most congested cities, topped by London, where motorists can expect to take 36.2 minutes to drive six miles.

Sheffield’s roads are less congested than those in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Bristol, the figures suggest, but they are more clogged up than those in Nottingham, Leicester, Cardiff and Bournemouth, which round out the top 10. The UK’s second biggest city, Birmingham, surprisingly did not feature in the top 10.

A spokesperson for StressFreeCarRental.com said: “Drivers are experiencing slow moving traffic every day - with an average speed of only 14.5 mph during rush hour across the UK as a whole. And many motorists are spending over an hour doing their daily commute because of how congested our cities’ roads have become.

“This is frustratingly slow and none of us particularly enjoy spending longer than we already do sitting in our cars while we miss out on things we would rather be doing. But it is surprising not to see some of the UK’s biggest cities on the list - Bournemouth ranking above Birmingham is surprising when you consider the reputation our second city has for congestion.

“What we might be seeing is the result of differing levels of investment into improving roads and public transport from city to city. As we try to meet targets on pollution and emissions, the UK needs more investment to help traffic to flow more freely.

“This might involve reviewing plans to introduce congestion charges for motorists in these cities - as several of them have recently cancelled plans to do so. More funding into improving roads and public transport systems to tackle congestion should be a top priority for the UK.”

The results were published during the week in which the controversial Clean Air Zone came into effect in Sheffield city centre and Labour councillors withdrew their support for similarly contentious plans for red-line restrictions to speed up bus journeys on two of Sheffield’s busiest roads.

Below are the 10 most congested cities in the UK, according to StressFreeCarRental.com, showing the average time taken to drive six miles and, in brackets, the average speed during rush hour.

1, London 36.2 minutes (8mph)

2, Manchester 23.1 (13)

3, Liverpool 22.2 (14)

4, Edinburgh 21.3 (15)

5, Bristol 20.4 (14)

6, Sheffield 20.2 (14)

7, Nottingham (19.4)

8, Leicester 18.3 (16)

9, Cardiff 18.2 (18)

10, Bournemouth 18.1 (17)