UPPER Hale Road has been named one of the slowest rush-hour roads in the UK with average speeds dipping as low as 16 miles per hour, official figures reveal.

According to Department for Transport (DfT) statistics, Surrey has the slowest rush-hour roads of any county in the UK with an average speed of just over 22.5mph on Surrey’s A roads during the morning commute.

This is more than 18mph slower than the county with the fastest roads and nearly seven mph below the county average.

The average morning speed of the A3016 Upper Hale Road eastbound was just 16.2mph in June - making it the county’s fifth slowest rush-hour road.

Surrey’s slowest rush-hour road is the A317 westbound between Weybridge and Chertsey towards the M25, which reached an average morning speed of just 14.5mph.

The congestion news comes after Surrey County Council wrote to the Government calling for action to prevent the county’s 3,300 miles of roads missing out on a new highways fund from Vehicle Excise Duty.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the fund in his latest Budget but the county council revealed the small print indicates the money will be used for motorways and major A roads managed by Highways England, which account for only 100 miles in Surrey.

Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for highways John Furey said: “These average speeds reflect the sheer volume of Surrey rush-hour traffic and are proof that congestion has an enormous impact on our roads but unless the government acts to change the new vehicle tax system money to invest in getting traffic moving faster at peak times is going to take a detour around Surrey.

“That isn’t what the county’s motorists deserve, given that they generate £80 million more in Vehicle Excise Duty than they ever get back and government funding for our roads is falling by £1 million a year.”

A full list of average speeds on Surrey’s roads for the morning commute can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/cgn02-flow-weighted-vehicle-speeds.