Traffic congestion is costing the UK economy nearly £4.3bn a year, according to new report from traffic information provider INRIX and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

INRIX, an international provider of traffic information and intelligent driver services, together with Cebr, has revealed that congestion on roads costs around £491 per car-commuting household.

The costs originate from the direct impact of traffic on drivers in terms of fuel and time wastage, and also through indirect impact on households as a result of businesses passing costs to consumers in the form of higher prices.

Close to £426m is being wasted on fuel alone, which means each of the 8.2 million commuting drivers in the country have to bear a fuel cost of £52.

Other direct cost is wastage of time, with the average cost of time wasted in gridlock per traveller £331, which results in a total national time cost of £2.7bn.

In London, the cost of idle time spent in traffic is £15.19, compared to the UK’s national average of £12.51.

"Traffic congestion costs every urban household £107 per annum."

The report highlighted that gridlock in the country indirectly leads to a rise in the cost of goods and services; business or freight vehicles comprise 19% of every day traffic, which in turn results in passing more than £1.1bn of indirect costs to households every year.

Traffic congestion costs every urban household £107 per annum.

Individual annual costs per commuting household are the maximum in London with gridlock costing households £1,003.58 annually.

The study indicated that efficient movement of people and commerce across the UK road networks is required for a healthy economy.