Electric scooters could cut journey times in some of the UK’s most gridlocked cities by up to 70 per cent if they were made road legal, a new study has revealed.

With an average speed of 12mph, electric scooters and bikes could complete short journeys quicker than vehicles in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Sheffield, according to traffic information supplier Inrix.

Researchers evaluated trillions of pieces of data from connected devices including cars, mobile phones and road sensors and found that more than two-thirds of car journeys in congested urban areas are less than three miles (4.8km).

If a fraction of these were replaced with scooter and bike trips, cities could "reap significant benefits" Inrix said, with Manchester identified the UK city which would stand to see its journey times reduced most.

Electric scooters, electric bikes and shared bikes have the potential to shorten journey times for 69% of trips currently made by car.