Anyone who spends a lot of time driving knows that parking can be a time consuming and frustrating business.
British drivers waste an average total of nearly four days every year looking for parking spaces, a study has found.
People are finding it more and more difficult to find a spot with increasing congestion due to more people having cars, parking restrictions and no stopping routes.
Drivers in London typically spend almost eight minutes searching for somewhere to park after each journey, compared with five minutes in the East of England and East Midlands, according to research by trade body the British Parking Association (BPA).
The figure is based on the Department of Transport’s National Travel Survey, which indicates that motorists undertake an average of 921 car journeys a year each.
According to research conducted by BPA the average time motorists spend looking for a space is 5.9 mins, adding up to a total of 90.5 hours - or four days - spent searching for a parking spot over the year.
The monotony and frustrations of driving around looking for a space may well be the reason why 39% of motorists say finding somewhere to park is a stressful experience, with only 20% saying it is stress free.