Boosted by the online shopping trend, vehicle delivery traffic in the UK increased by 40 per cent over the past decade.

But a consumer cut-back on goods and services in the first quarter of this year saw van traffic fall by two per cent and heavy goods vehicle (HGV) traffic decline by the steepest amount on record – down 12 per cent.     

The UK Freight Transport Association blamed part of the decline in truck traffic on government increases in fuel duty adding to road hauliers’ costs. The FTA says half its members – who operate 220,000 trucks – have made redundancies recently and a third say they will cut more jobs.