... as drivers told to expect long delays

DRIVERS have been warned to expect up to four hours of delays over the festive period as more than 0 million vehicles hit the roads.

The busiest days will be December 0, 1 and as a surge of drivers get an early start on the Christmas getaway.

Traffic information supplier Inrix said a spike in the number of online shopping deliveries will add to the congestion.

Motorways expected to have the worst hold-ups include the M 5 anti-clockwise, M1 in both directions and M6 southbound.

Significant delays are also predicted on December 7 as the volume of cars rises due to high street sales and people returning from Christmas breaks.

Inrix analysis of the 016 festive period showed that traffic peaked at around 5pm on the Friday before Christmas with more than 300 hold-ups recorded.

Almost 400 miles of roadworks will be lifted by Highways England to ease journeys over Christmas. The ‘embargo’ will be in place on motorways and major A roads from 6am on December until 1 .01am on January . The Government-owned company responsible for the strategic road network said 99 per cent of carriageways will be open.