Brits have longest journeys to work.

BRITISH commuters have the longest average travelling times to work in Europe - at 45 minutes per day, the RAC said today.

The average distance travelled by commuters has risen 17 per cent to 8.5 miles in the past decade, said the RAC's campaigning arm, the RAC Foundation.

It showed that 72 per cent of commuters outside London used cars to get to work, with buses the preferred mode of travel for two-thirds of those using public transport.

Of all car trips, 22 per cent are made for commuting, while only five per cent of commuting was by national rail.

But commuting accounted for 46 per cent of all rail journeys, with more than half of rail commuting journeys being made in London and the South- east.

The research also showed that liking an area was the main reason why people did not live closer to their work.

The main reason for using the car to drive to work was that it was quicker.

RAC Foundation's executive director Edmund King said: "We are a nation of car commuters.

"We have the longest commute in Europe and even if our commuting time doubled most of us would just shrug and leave more time for the journey.

"Drivers would rather sit in their cars twice as long than change jobs, move house or change their work base.

"However, many commuters would revolt over the prospect of having to pay workplace-parking levies."