Logistics businesses continue to suffer as the UK's roads become increasingly congested.

New figures released by the Department for Transport showed that vehicle traffic grew by 2.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2013 when compared with the corresponding period in 2012.

The number of HGVs populating the nation's highways went up by 1.7 per cent, accounting for 3.9 billion vehicle miles.

Traffic volumes increased on all roads, but there was a particularly large rise in congestion on motorways - a discovery that will surprise few people. There was a 4.9 per cent upturn in vehicles using motorways, while minor road traffic grew by 3.6 per cent.

Gridlocked roads cost the UK billions of pounds in lost production every year, so it is understandable that the government is keen to free up more space on the nation's motorways.

In May, the Department for Transport announced it was planning to spend £165 million on removing notorious bottlenecks across the road network.