Families put brakes on car use

Spiralling fuel prices are forcing major lifestyle changes with over two thirds of drivers having cut the number of journeys they make by car.

That is the shock finding of a new survey which reveals a huge fall in car trips to shops, retail parks and schools.

Big jumps in energy bills, mortgage repayments and food costs have added to the financial pressures making cost-cutting the number one priority for most families.

Today's research by Populus shows nearly a third of motorists have stopped driving to the local shops while 29 per cent have cut out journeys to out of town retail parks.

Almost one in four parents are no longer driving the children to school with a 22 per cent drop in visits to family and friends and a 27 per cent reduction in UK weekend breaks.

The Mander Centre in Wolverhampton has seen a 3,000 fall in the 40,000 vehicles a month using its car park but last week registered a 31 per cent rise in visitor numbers with 380,000 compared to 289,000 at the same time last year.

Graham Evans, Mander Centre manager and a board member of the City Centre Company, observed: "This indicates a shift in travel not shopping patterns with more people coming into the city by foot and public transport or sharing cars."

Visitor numbers to major out-of-town retail centres elsewhere in the UK like Bluewater, Lakeside and the Metro Centre are down nearly seven per cent on last year.

Councillor Paddy Bradley, Wolverhampton City Council member for regeneration and enterprise who has responsibility for transport, confessed: "The roads in and around the city have far less traffic because of petrol prices especially when people are saving for a summer holiday."