Telford takes pole position as UK's car friendliest town
- Telford is Britain’s car friendliest town
- … but a trip to Northampton will drive motorists to despair
- Virgin Money Car Insurance ranks the UK’s 50 biggest cities on how they treat motorists
Telford has been crowned the UK’s most car-friendly place, new research from Virgin Money Car Insurance shows. The self-proclaimed birthplace of industry in the West Midlands has overtaken last year’s winner Dundee and seen off stiff competition from car friendly hotspots including Newcastle, Blackpool and Sunderland.
The Virgin Money Car Insurance researchers rated the UK’s 50 largest populated towns and cities on a range of criteria including petrol prices; the cost of parking for two hours and the number of speed cameras on main roads into the town or city. It also took into consideration the number of car parks and the level of car crime, weighted to reflect the population numbers.
According to the Virgin Money researchers, Telford offers motorists the best all-round driving experience, scoring highly on all five measures and topping the list of cities and towns for the generous number of car parks it offers.
Motorists are likely to be driven to despair by a trip to Northampton as they’re left crippled by the expensive petrol prices, high levels of vehicle crime and an inadequate amount of parking spaces to support population numbers. Completing the bottom five were Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Liverpool - all scoring poorly on most measures.
Scott Mowbray of Virgin Money said: “The UK’s 33 million motorists face many frustrations. The number of speeding tickets issued to motorists has almost trebled in the last ten years and petrol prices continue to soar. It’s easy to see why for many, motoring has evolved from a pleasure to an exercise in survival on the roads. Although no town or city is perfect, thankfully there are still some pockets of the country that are still suitable for a Sunday drive.”
The 10 most car-friendly towns are listed below along with the 10 least friendly:
IN POLE POSITION
| TOWN/CITY | RANKING |
|---|---|
| Telford | 1 |
| Dundee | 2 |
| Newcastle | 3 |
| Sunderland | 4 |
| Belfast | 5 |
| Blackpool | 6 |
| Derby | 7 |
| Portsmouth | 8 |
| Poole | 9 |
| Aberdeen | 10 |
AT THE BACK OF THE GRID
| TOWN/CITY | RANKING |
|---|---|
| Northampton | 50 |
| Cardiff | 49 |
| London | 48 |
| Birmingham | 47 |
| Liverpool | 46 |
| Nottingham | 45 |
| Sheffield | 44 |
| Leeds | 43 |
| Reading | 42 |
| Edinburgh | 41 |
Full list of 50 towns and cities attached below.
Those with a penchant for speed are advised to avoid Reading as motorists are forced to dodge more speed cameras than in any other town or city outside of London. In contrast motorists in Hull do not have to contend with any.
The most expensive place to park outside the Capital is Bristol where a two-hour stay in a car park costs on average £5. However it does well for petrol prices when compared to Northampton which is the most expensive at an average of 111.90p per litre.
The car crime capital of the UK is Manchester with an average 8.9 events of car crimes per 1000 people. Swindon ranks as the safest place for motorists with just 2.2 occurrences of car crime every year per 1000 people.
TOP 50 TOWNS AND CITIES
| TOWN | RANKING | SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Telford | 1 | 17 |
| Dundee | 2 | 59 |
| Newcastle | 3 | 60 |
| Sunderland | 4 | 68 |
| Belfast | 5 | 75 |
| Blackpool | 6 | 75 |
| Derby | 7 | 80 |
| Portsmouth | 8 | 83 |
| Poole | 9 | 84 |
| Aberdeen | 10 | 87 |
| Dudley | 11 | 87 |
| Norwich | 12 | 89 |
| Ipswich | 13 | 92 |
| Bolton | 14 | 95 |
| York | 15 | 98 |
| Wolverhampton | 16 | 99 |
| Bournemouth | 17 | 103 |
| Middlesbrough | 18 | 103 |
| West Bromwich | 19 | 103 |
| Preston | 20 | 105 |
| Huddersfield | 21 | 106 |
| Southend | 22 | 106 |
| Plymouth | 23 | 107 |
| Swansea | 24 | 112 |
| Swindon | 25 | 112 |
| Leicester | 26 | 114 |
| Hull | 27 | 120 |
| Luton | 28 | 120 |
| Milton Keynes | 29 | 131 |
| Walsall | 30 | 134 |
| Peterborough | 31 | 140 |
| Brighton and Hove | 32 | 142 |
| Southampton | 33 | 145 |
| Coventry | 34 | 147 |
| Glasgow | 35 | 149 |
| Manchester | 36 | 151 |
| Bradford | 37 | 152 |
| Oxford | 38 | 154 |
| Stoke | 39 | 157 |
| Bristol | 40 | 164 |
| Edinburgh | 41 | 165 |
| Reading | 42 | 165 |
| Leeds | 43 | 166 |
| Sheffield | 44 | 172 |
| Nottingham | 45 | 176 |
| Liverpool | 46 | 186 |
| Birmingham | 47 | 190 |
| London | 48 | 210 |
| Cardiff | 49 | 212 |
| Northampton | 50 | 221 |
For further information:
Kevan Reilly/ Holly Clark/ Billy Partridge
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: 0207 638 9571
About Virgin Money
Virgin Money is Virgin’s financial services arm and was established in 1995.
Virgin Money has over two million customers and offers a wide range of financial products across lending (e.g. credit cards and personal loans), savings (e.g. deposits, investments and pensions) and protection (e.g. life insurance, home insurance and car insurance) to the UK market.
Virgin Money Personal Financial Service Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Registered Office: Discovery House, Whiting Road, Norwich NR4 6EJ. Registered in England no. 3072766. Entered on the Financial Services Register (www.fsa.gov.uk/register), Register Number: 179271
About Virgin Money Car Insurance:
Virgin Money Car Insurance is available online at www.virginmoney.com and over the phone via 0800 051 0588.
Unlike many other insurers, Virgin Money Car Insurance does not charge its customers extra for paying their premiums by monthly direct debit.
Virgin Money is Virgin’s financial services arm and was established in 1995.
Virgin Car Insurance, Virgin Home Insurance, Virgin Pet Insurance and Virgin Travel Insurance are promoted by Virgin Money Personal Financial Service Ltd and underwritten by UK Insurance Ltd, The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds, LS1 4AZ. Virgin Money and UK Insurance Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Subject to underwriting criteria. Calls may be monitored and recorded.
