The number of buses and lorries on the roads is continuing to fall, according to Government figures.

There are now six per cent fewer licensed buses than in 2005 while there are nine per cent fewer licensed heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) than in 2007, the Department for Transport (DfT) statistics showed.

The number of licensed HGVs at the end of 2011 was the lowest since 1999, with the DfT saying that the decreases in buses and lorries was likely to be the result of the economic downturn that began in 2008.

At the end of 2011 there were 34.2 million vehicles licensed for use on roads in Britain of which 28.5 million were cars.

Although the total vehicle numbers rose 0.3 per cent between 2010 and 2011, the annual average increase has been only 0.4 per cent since 2008/09, compared with an average rise of 2.4 per cent between 1996 and 2007.

But the number of light vans registered for the first time totalled more than 263,000 last year - a 16 per cent rise on the 2010 figure of 226,000 and 38 per cent higher than the 2009 total of 190,000.

The DfT figures (to the end of 2011) also showed: • The south west of England had the highest rate of vehicles, with 657 vehicles per 1,000 people; • Judged just by cars rather than all vehicles, south east England had the highest proportion - with 540 cars per 1,000 people; • The lowest car rate was in north east England where there were only 399 cars per 1,000 people; • The average engine size of all licensed cars fell from 1,746cc in 2010 to 1,740cc in 2011; • The most common car was the Ford Focus (1.4 million) followed by the Ford Fiesta (1.3 million). Ford cars accounted for 15 per cent of all cars, with the top five marques (Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Renault) accounting for nearly 50% of all licensed cars.