The latest research has found the average company vehicle driver spends eight days per month behind the wheel on business journeys.

It also found that company car drivers are using their cars on average six times a week - and some as many as 23 journeys per week - to travel as short a journey as under two miles.

The Energy Saving Trust, which carried out the research, said that by introducing practices including smarter driving and teleconferencing, a 100-vehicle fleet could save £90,000 a year.

The trust also suggests that where car journeys are essential, the greenest vehicles should be used.

“If drivers used eco-friendly cars for their fleets this could save them nearly £3 billion per year in reduced fuel and national insurance costs,” said the EST.

“There is now a much wider range of eco-friendly cars such as BMW, Volkswagen and Ford.”

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The EST also found that 17% of company vehicle drivers “absolutely love” driving for work, while just 1% hate it.

It also discovered that although they have a company car, 60% of company drivers use other forms of transport, or even walk, for business journeys.