The number of miles covered by cars in Northumberland fell by nearly a quarter last year with travel impacted by the coronavirus lockdown, figures show.

But any respite in traffic levels will soon be over, says the RAC, which predicts a busy summer on the roads as restrictions are eased.

Data from the Department for Transport shows cars and taxis covered an estimated 1.3 billion miles on Northumberland’s roads during 2020.

That was 23 per cent fewer than in 2019 when 1.6 billion miles were covered.

It was a similar picture across Great Britain with the number of miles of car journeys down 25 per cent.

The DfT said the figures were heavily impacted by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on travel in place through many months of last year.

Early indications from the Government show traffic could return to 2019 levels as lockdown is eased.