Zipcar UK's membership grew 33% in 2018 to hit the 250,000 mark, with London boroughs in particular seeing huge growth.

The company has been operating in the UK for 15 years, first as start-up Streetcar and later as Zipcar UK.

It now has 2,600 vehicles in the UK, while Zipcar Flex is now available in 10 London boroughs with more in the pipeline. Lewisham, for example, experienced 44% year-on-year growth  and Wandsworth 38%.

Zipcar UK’s general manager Jonathan Hampson said: “London is an increasingly expensive city to live in, and people just can’t afford to own a car when they don’t need it every day, so it makes more sense to share, especially with the hefty new ULEZ charges about to come into force.

“Pollution is also now considered to be at crisis level by 90% of Londoners, which is prompting them to seek out greener ways to get around the city.

"We know from research that car sharers are twice as likely to use public transport and/or bikes than use a car, meaning our service is helping tackle issues like car dependency head-on."