The annual National Travel Survey for England reveals that the average person walked the short distance 198 times in 2018, up from 192 in 2017 and 180 the year before. In 2015 the figure was 151. The last time the average number of trips of under one mile on foot was higher was in 2006, when the figure stood at 201.

Figures also show that 48% of people walk for 20 minutes or more at least three times a week, up from 46% the year before. In 2003 this figure stood at 32%.

Commuter trips on foot rose in 2018, but the percentage of journeys on foot among children going to school has stayed broadly static over the last 10 years at 44%.

Across all modes of travel, the number of trips taken every year stood at 986 in 2018. This figure has increased for each of the previous three years, but is down on a longer term average of over 1050 for each of the years between 1995 and 2006.

Distance travelled by all modes per person per year was 6530 miles in 2018, down by 50 miles on the year before. The record high was in 2003 when the average mileage was 7211.

Walking charity Living Streets’ chief executive Joe Irvin said: “With a growing crisis in health due to inactivity, air pollution and climate change, it’s more important than ever to make walking the natural choice for our local, everyday journeys – such as the walk to school.

“The Government should continue to invest in cost effective behaviour change programmes to encourage more walking.”

(Photograph: Alastair Lloyd)