Monday, January 5, is expected to be one of the busiest days for car breakdowns, according to the AA, because many vehicles have been left sitting idle over the festive period.

It is putting extra patrols on duty in readiness of a 30% upturn in breakdowns and says it will attend around 19,000 call-outs.

Mark Spowage, AA patrol of the year, says: “The first working day back in January is traditionally the busiest day of the year for breakdowns with flat batteries the main culprit.

“The issue is that many cars get left unused for up to a fortnight in often cold conditions, which causes the power output of the battery to drop.”

An AA-Populus survey of 16,165 AA members found that a third of respondents will have at least one car standing unused throughout the festive period that will be relied on come the first day back.

It also found that around a fifth (22%) of respondents plan to drive more than 20 miles on New Year’s Eve with 14% covering that distance on New Year’s Day.

The Northern Irish (31%) followed by those in Yorkshire and Humberside (24%) are most likely to be racking up more than 20 miles on New Year’s Eve, compared to only 17% of Londoners.

The Northern Irish (24%) again top the driving charts on New Year’s Day with the Welsh (11%) least likely to be driving that far.

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