SOUTHAMPTON'S workforce has saved £161m on fuel since the start of lockdown in March, new data has shown.

Restrictions have meant that the daily commute is, for now, a thing of the past, meaning less petrol is being purchased.

Research by price comparison site, GoCompare, previously found that on average, Brits spend 58 minutes a day commuting to work by car, covering 3.4 miles each way.

With an average yearly fuel spend of £1,154, it's calculated 35p is spent per commute and because of this, £9.1b has been saved across the UK since lockdown began.

In Southampton, there is said to be 72,509 non-keyworkers who used to drive to work.

As a result, £540,915 is estimated to have been saved every day during lockdown restrictions, resulting in an overall saving of £161m since March.

London saved the most out of any city, with 1,394,484 non-keyworkers who used to drive meaning that over £10m was saved every day, resulting in an overall saving of £3.1b.

Another South-coast city, Bournemouth, saved £161m in total, having had 108,326 drivers at a saving of £808,114 a day.

With so much being saved, that has impacted the cost of fuel at the pumps, with prices for both petrol and diesel plummeting, leading to petrol pricing wars between Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

Overall driving has been reduced by 62 percent in the UK compared to the start of 2020, significantly more than other countries, with the USA’s driving only down by 30% as Government advice and measures differ.

Below is a list of the top 23 cities for saving money on fuel since March:

1. London, 1,394,484 drivers, £10,402,850.64 per day, £3,110,452,341.36 total

2. Manchester, 724,597 drivers, £5,405,490.64 per day, £1,616,241,700.16 total

3. Liverpool, 398,198 drivers, £2,970,555.59 per day, £888,196,120.81 total

4. Birmingham, 271,362 drivers, £2,024,360.52 per day, £605,283,795.48 total

5. Leeds, 233,087 drivers, £1,738,832.00 per day, £519,910,769.20 total

6. Leicester, 136,828 drivers, £1,020,733.90 per day, £305,199,434.90 total

7. Bournemouth, 108,326 drivers, £808,114.94 per day, £241,626,368.26 total

8. Edinburgh, 78,242 drivers, £583,683.83 per day, £174,521,464.57 total

9. Southampton, 72,509 drivers, £540,915.65 per day, £161,733,778.75 total

10. Sheffield, 72,236 drivers, £538,879.07 per day, £161,124,841.33 total

11. Brighton, 71,854 drivers, £536,027.86 per day, £160,272,328.94 total

12. Stoke, 66,011 drivers, £492,445.04 per day, £147,241,068.16 total

13. York, 59,787 drivers, £446,011.02 per day, £133,357,294.98 total

14. Luton, 55,856 drivers, £416,684.27 per day, £124,588,596.13 total

15. Coventry, 52,252 drivers, £389,801.41 per day, £116,550,622.19 total

16. Bradford, 50,505 drivers, £376,767.30 per day, £112,653,422.70 total

17. Cardiff, 47,993 drivers, £358,030.76 per day, £107,051,198.44 total

18. Oxford, 45,536 drivers, £339,701.54 per day, £101,570,761.66 total

19. Wakefield, 45,154 drivers, £336,850.33 per day, £100,718,249.27 total

20. Slough, 40,186 drivers, £299,784.58 per day, £89,635,588.22 total

21. Nottingham, 36,855 drivers, £274,938.30 per day, £82,206,551.70 total

22. Peterborough, 24,133 drivers, £180,033.67 per day, £53,830,067.93 total

23. Blackpool, 17,308 drivers, £129,119.17 per day, £38,606,632.43 total