MOTORISTS travelling on North West motorways are spending more time stuck in Traffic than almost anywhere else in the country.

According to figures revealed by information service Trafficmaster, the region is the third worst in Britain for jams.

Only the notorious M25 in London and the North East of England come off worse.

The statistics relate to April, May and June this year when it is estimated more than five million vehicles spent almost four million hours stuck on the motorway,

The economic cost of the congestion is reckoned to be a staggering £173 million.

Michele Murphy, of Trafficmaster, explained: "The results have come from a survey commissioned by us and conducted by MORI who found that people were spending more and more time in jams.

"And the problem looks set to get worse with the figure still rising every year. At the current growth rate the average number of cars delayed every day is likely to rise to 623,000 nationally in the next ten years."

Although the survey was unable to attribute the delays to specific problems, road works, the volume of traffic on the road, the weather and major incidents are all contributing factors to the jams.

In the North West, road works on the M6 have produced regular tailbacks over the summer, especially round the Charnock Richard area.

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