EAST Herts is the Hertfordshire district with the greatest amount of traffic, with an estimated four million kilometres driven on its roads.

Recently-published statistics show that traffic levels have now increased by over two per cent in the county for four consecutive years. This is above the national average of 1.5 per cent, Herts County Council has revealed.

County councillors have worked hard to promote the council's TravelWise scheme, which encourages people to swap their car for other modes of transport.

Environment committee chairman Brian York said: "These figures are again disappointing and show that our dependence on the car continues unabated.

"The new government White Paper on transport has praised Hertfordshire for several initiatives, especially our TravelWise campaign, but we still have a long way to go."

The figures, which cover the period of 1996/7, show that there were over five million vehicle kilometres driven in East Herts.

When motorway usage is deducted from the statistics, East Herts still registers as the area with the most kilometres driven -- with over four million kilometres.

Environment committee vice-chairman Michael Moore said: "An astounding 31.1million vehicle kilometres are now driven on roads in Hertfordshire.

"Continued traffic growth is aggravating congestion, causing worse pollution problems and increasing the number of accidents, as drivers seek alternative routes on minor roads to avoid hold-ups on motorways and major roads."

John Collins, from the county council's environment department, said: "East Herts covers a greater geographic area than St Albans, and there is a lot of growth in the area too.

"It may also be down to the fact that some of the roads measured in the St Albans area, such as the M1, are getting full to capacity, and there is not much movement."

Cllr York said that co-operation between the county council and residents was now needed to reduce car usage.

He said: "As a county council we are doing what we can to improve alternative means of transport, but we must all take individual responsibility and try to use our cars less."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.