Journey times to work have rocketed over the past decade.

As a result, British commuters have to endure the second longest daily commute in Europe - on average 54 minutes per day.

Londoners are suffering particularly with over 1.3 million workers now travelling for longer than an hour each day, but journeys are increasing significantly all around the UK.

The number of commuters spending an hour or more travelling to work has risen by 22.5% since 1996, says the TUC.

The Welsh have been the hardest hit by longer commutes as the number of commuters travelling for over an hour each day has risen by 43%, closely followed by Northern Ireland (up 42.2%) and the southwest (risen by 41.4%).

In the northwest more than half a million more workers (519,000) are spending over an hour travelling to work, and 145,000 Scots are setting off for work earlier and returning later.

Across Yorkshire, the Midlands and the East of England thousands more workers are feeling the strain of a long route to work than before.