Comparison website confused.com has claimed that 80% of the UK's traffic lights "should be ripped out".

The suggestion follows an Institute of Economic Research Affairs report which puts the cost of delays caused by traffic controls at £16 billion a year, stating that safety and the economy could be boosted with the removal of traffic lights altogether.

According to confused.com, the average Brit spends 48.5 hours a year stopped at traffic lights, equivalent to eight minutes a day, or nearly a fifth of the average time spent in a car on a daily basis.

The firm also claims motorists are having to contend with more traffic lights than before, with Freedom of Information data showing there are more than 34,000 traffic lights across the country, a 23% increase compared with 2013.

Confused.com said that almost a third (29%) of motorists have driven through a red traffic light, with 32% doing so on purpose, with drivers citing being late (33%), saying they didn't see the light turn red (32%) and being angry at the light for turning red (20%) as reasons for running the lights.