Year of your life hunting parking spot

Drivers spend nearly a year of their lives searching for a parking space, according to a survey today.

The average motorist loses the equivalent of more than six days a year circling streets and car parks looking for a spot, the poll of 9,000 drivers found.

Based on a motorists’ driving “lives” lasting about 50 years, the lost time adds up to 7,600 hours, or more than 45 weeks, the poll by parking company NCP found.

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Londoners lose the most time, spending an average of 182 hours a year, or more than 54 weeks in a motoring lifetime, in the search for a space. This compares with the national average of 152 hours a year.

The next-longest lost time is endured by motorists in Birmingham, followed by Glasgow and Newcastle.

The survey also showed:

n Some 42 per cent of people – and 51 per cent of women – admit they will not attempt to park in a space if another car is waiting behind them

n More than 20pc often get a passenger to do the parking for them

n Some 44 per cent of people, and 48 per cent of women, have “lost” their car as they could not remember where they parked.