Workers in Luton are top walkers but Central Beds commuters stick to cars

Luton is 7th best out of 39 local authorities surveyed, with 11,840 of the 89,201 employed people in the town walking to work; 13.3 per cent.

Workers in neighbouring Central Beds prefer their cars, as just 8.1 per cent of workers choose to walk to their place of work, placing them 34th in the table.

Nationally, the number of people walking to work has increased by more than 9 per cent in the past decade.

Dr Helena Johnson, chair of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy who published the research said: “Walking is free and good for your health so it’s understandable that more people are doing it to get to work.

“Clearly some people need to use alternative modes of transport, but even then there are easy ways to build exercise into that journey - park further away from the office or get off the bus a stop early, for instance.

“Councils must do their part by promoting safe and enjoyable walking routes and removing some of the barriers that prevent people from getting exercise.

“Britain is facing an obesity crisis that is fuelled by inactivity. It is essential for the health of the nation that people find time to exercise and hopefully these statistics are an encouraging sign that the message is getting through.”

The overwhelming majority of workers in England and Wales still commute by car, which can come at a cost to their health.

Some 45 per cent of drivers said they suffered pain in the past 12 months as a result of their journey, with more than a quarter (25 per cent) citing a problem with their back.

The City of London, the Isles of Scilly and Norwich formed a diverse top three for the highest percentage of people commuting on foot.

East Dorset, Bexley and South Staffordshire were the places where the smallest proportion of people walked to work.

In addition to the walkers, more than 762,000 people cycled to work, which was also an increase on the numbers who reported doing so in the 2001 census.

The third annual CSP Workout at Work Day takes place on June 12, with physiotherapists running events in workplaces across the UK to show how people can squeeze exercise into their busy lives.