The credit crunch has led to a cut in congestion on the roads for the first time in two decades.

Motorways and trunk roads have seen a 31 per cent reduction in congestion in the last two years, according to a report from the AA and Trafficmaster.

With more people holidaying in the UK and choosing weekend breaks, Friday is the only day of the week when congestion levels have risen.

End-of-term traffic and Bank holiday traffic has also increased, according to figures gathered from a poll of 75,000 drivers.

The report said of those commuters who have lost jobs, 23 per cent have done so in the last 12 months, leading to 15 per cent less congestion in the weekday morning rush-hour.

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And 20 per cent of all commuters said the economic circumstances had led them to work from home more regularly to avoid the cost of commuting, while 14 per cent had used public transport and 12 per cent had shared cars to reduce costs.

A total of 67 per cent of commuters said they would double the distance travelled in their daily commute in order to keep their job.

Georgina Read at Trafficmaster said: "Data for the past 20 years up to 2007 shows the congestion problem is growing. However we've now witnessed two consecutive years of dramatically falling congestion levels post-credit crunch."

AA president Edmund King said: "Congestion is falling, but this is due to the recession, fuel prices and unemployment.

"This strengthens our need to keep investing in the road infrastructure, so that when the recession ends we have a network which can support a thriving economy."

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