BOURNEMOUTH has been named the most congested town in the UK, with traffic snarl-ups worse than the likes of Birmingham, Newcastle and Bristol.

The resort is seventh in the overall league table of the most gridlocked UK destinations, but all those ahead of it are major regional cities.

Congestion costs Bournemouth businesses around £8million a year in lost productivity, according to the TomTom Traffic Index.

The figures from the satnav manufacturer suggest congestion in the town increased the time each vehicle spends on the road by 17 working days a year. This would equate to £7.95m in time spent sitting in traffic for the town’s 8,800 commercial vehicles.

Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “Journeys across the conurbation take a huge amount of time. This must have an impact on business.and traffic from one side of the conurbation to the other is very difficult, particularly at peak travel times.”

Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) recently presided over the £22m rebuild of the A338 Spur Road and has just seen Gravel Hill reopened after £4m of work. Other improvements are planned for access to the port of Poole and the area around Bournemouth Airport.

Mr Girling added: “Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) have recognised this as a major issue and have an ongoing major investment programme.We’re delighted to see Gravel Hill is open.”TomTom says the UK’s most congested city is Belfast, with 24 working days lost per vehicle per year, followed by London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Brighton and Hull. Bournemouth is the highest-placed destination in the league table that is not a city.

Bournemouth had average congestion score of 32 per cent – based on the extra journey time compared with free-flowing roads. The figure was up from 31 per cent in 2015.

Adam Keen, area manager for Morebus, said: “Bournemouth is a popular town, both as a tourist destination and among those wishing to live and work here. With this in mind, we know how busy the roads are likely to be at different times of the year – and throughout each day.“It’s no surprise that Bournemouth placed highly in the congestion list, but we plan our services to ensure those travelling with us face minimal disruption during the busiest times.

“Operating bus services in any busy town or city is a challenge, one that our excellent team meets each and every day. We work with the local authorities and the LEP to get the best solutions for bus passengers. And we are proud to have played a key role in increasing the number of passenger journeys taken here in Bournemouth – more than almost anywhere else in the UK during the past decade.“Leaving the car at home and taking public transport can make a real difference in reducing emissions and congestion levels here.”

Lorna Carver, director of Dorset LEP, said: "Dorset is under continued pressure from business to improve infrastructure, particularly the need to address increasing traffic congestion in the urban areas.

"Dorset LEP has already secured substantial resources from government growth deal funding for road improvements. £45.2m is being invested into the BIG Programme to boost employment and development around Bournemouth Airport and Wessex Fields. £23.3m is being invested into four major transport schemes to improve access into and around the Port of Poole. We are now working hard to ensure we secure more growth deal funding from government to continue transport network improvements across the region."