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London is the world’s slowest city for drivers with traffic crawling at an average of just 10mph – because of its widespread 20mph speed limits, a study claimed today.

Drivers took 37 minutes and 20 seconds to cover just 6.2 miles (10km) in the city last year – a minute longer than in 2022, according to satellite navigation firm TomTom.

It comes amid London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) last year and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, which can land drivers with fines.

And TomTom claimed that the 20mph limits, which were also expanded last year, may have led to an increase in greenhouse gases due to the longer journey times.

The world’s second slowest city centre is Dublin, with 6.2-mile trips typically taking 29 minutes and 30 seconds. It was followed by Toronto, Canada (29 minutes); Milan, Italy (28 minutes and 50 seconds); and Lima, Peru (28 minutes and 30 seconds).

Stephanie Leonard, TomTom’s head of government and regulatory affairs, told MailOnline: ‘London really is the slowest place in the world to drive a car.

London is the world’s slowest city for drivers, analysis by TomTom has revealed (file picture) 

‘Especially in the core city centre, you don’t have maximum speed limits of 50mph or higher, it’s a maximum of 20mph. You don’t have the infrastructure for driving very quickly.’

She added that in three cities with low emissions or clean air zones, the greenhouse gas CO2 emitted by a typical petrol car increased in London by 1.5 per cent and in Birmingham by 0.5 per cent.

London drivers had the longest travelling time among 387 cities across 55 countries analysed, putting the capital top of the slow city centre ranking for the second year in a row.

TomTom found that as well as London’s city centre roads being the world’s slowest when traffic is flowing freely, they are also where motorists lose the most time due to congestion.

The study also noted that London had the world’s third highest fuel prices last year.

Ms Leonard said: ‘Our analysis of the economic impact of congestion showed that London’s slow-moving traffic and higher fuel consumption made it one of the most expensive cities in the world for driving.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan extended the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) last year

‘Avoiding peak hours could save Londoners up to £187 per year on fuel costs.

‘At the same time, local authorities must put support behind programmes that encourage cycling, public transport and other modes to take a larger share in transportation.’

Transport for London (TfL) lowered speed limits to 20mph on a further 40 miles (65km) of roads in the south of the capital during the final four months of last year.

When the measure was announced in September, the transport body – chaired by Mr Khan – said it would bring the total length of roads with a 20mph limit to 87 miles (140km), making them ‘safer for everyone’.

In the UK, Manchester was ranked the second slowest city (23 minutes and 30 seconds), followed by Liverpool (22 minutes and 50 seconds), Bristol (22 minutes and 40 seconds) and Edinburgh (21 minutes and 30 seconds).

Travel times increased last year in 21 of the 25 UK cities analysed. TomTom based its analysis on journeys in a 5km radius of city centres.

But a spokesperson for Mr Khan said: ‘This study is misleading as it only includes analysis from a very small part of the city centre, not the whole of London.

‘Comprehensive TfL data suggests that journey times on the TfL road network actually remain at similar levels to those in 2019, while analysis from around the UK suggests that lower speed limits have not increased congestion.

‘Roadworks are the biggest cause of congestion in cities, which is why the mayor’s infrastructure co-ordination service is working with boroughs and utility companies to reduce delays caused by roadworks, helping to save London road users over 1,250 days of roadworks since 2019.’

TfL’s director of network management and resilience Carl Eddleston added: ‘We disagree with this analysis of road speeds and believe it is not representative of London as a whole.

‘This report only looks at data collected up to 5km from the centre, regardless of the city’s overall size and density, which means that fair comparisons with other cities cannot be made.’

However, Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall said: ‘This is the consequence of Sadiq Khan’s war on motorists, which has gridlocked our roads and made London the worst city in the world to drive in.’

She pledged to ‘stop these blanket 20mph limits on main roads’ if she wins May’s election.

In October last year, the Government published a Plan for Drivers which included an intention to curb the use of those limits.

It stated: ‘We will make it clear that 20mph speed limits in England must be used appropriately where people want them – not as unwarranted blanket measures.’

This came a month after Wales became the first country in the UK to drop the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph on residential roads and those commonly used by pedestrians.

The 20mph limit in Wales was enforced from yesterday and the Welsh government has confirmed motorists will face sanctions if they exceed the limit.

However GoSafe Wales, which connects the Welsh police and local authorities together in a road safety network, has said that the enforcement of fines will only begin at 10 per cent of the speed limit plus 4mph.

This means in practice that drivers in Wales will only be prosecuted if they are caught driving above 25mph in a 20mph zone.