West could 'bear brunt' of bank holiday delays

RIVERS are being warned over long delays on major routes as 17.6 million getaway trips by car are expected to take place in the UK over the August bank holiday period.

- NEIL LANCEFIELD

The RAC, which issued the alert, urged drivers to set off as early as possible or “be prepared to spend longer in traffic”.

The South East and South West are expected to have some of the worst congestion.

Some three million journeys for holidays or day trips are expected to be made on Friday by drivers looking to make the most of the last long weekend before Christmas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the RAC said.

This rises to 3.4 million on Saturday, 2.4 million on Sunday and 2.7 million on Monday.

The RAC said that an additional 6.1 million drivers are planning a leisure trip at some point between Friday and Monday.

The figures are based on responses to a survey of 2,080 UK adults, extrapolated to the 34 million cars licensed in the UK. Transport analytics company Inrix predicted the M5 between Bristol and Devon will have the most severe getaway traffic, with the stretch from junction 15 north of Bristol to junction 23 for Bridgwater likely to see delays of more than 40 minutes on Friday and Saturday.