The roads of Brighton and Hove are among the most car-clogged in the country, according to new figures.

The city has been named the third most congested ahead of London and Birmingham.

The report, by TomTom Traffic Index, published yesterday, claims that motorists in the city faced 27 minutes of delays for every hour they drove during rush hours.

It also claimed that peak-hour journeys took 45% longer than drives on clear roads.

On average, journeys through the city took 30% longer than if carried out on traffic-free roads.

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The report concluded that congestion in the city had increased for April, May and June this year compared to the same period in 2012.

Critics of the current administration’s transport policy said the report was “grim reading”

but Green figures claimed that bus and cycle lanes would help reduce the congestion.

Motorists were warned that Wednesday mornings and Tuesday evenings were the worst for traffic, while the busiest day for the three-month period was Sunday, June 16 – the day of the London to Brighton bike ride.

Councillor Graham Cox, Conservative transport spokesman, said: “This report makes grim reading for the city’s residents, businesses and visitors who all suffer when our roads are heavily congested.”

He called on the council to make a “concerted effort” to get traffic flowing more smoothly with real time traffic management, rephrasing traffic lights and better coordination of roadworks.

Labour councillor Gill Mitchell said: “These figures show that more needs to be done to bring people into the city safely and efficiently with improved public transport services as well as road systems working properly for those who have no other option.

“We have always maintained that simply removing more and more road space whilst failing to offer an edge of town interchange solution, such as park and ride, will lead to these problems.”

Steve Percy, from the People’s Parking Protest, blamed the congestion on poorly planned road modifications such as bus stops opposite each other on the same road, too many traffic islands, and parking restrictions which forced drivers to drive around to find affordable parking.

He said: “As far as the council is concerned, if congestion has gone up they have achieved what they set out to do which is to get people so fed up they will leave the car at home.

“It’s the wrong idea and just creates more air pollution from slow moving traffic.”

Councillor Pete West, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “Tackling congestion is a big challenge as there are so many factors involved.

“The attraction of the city and its events to visitors, roadworks and bad weather can all influence our travel decisions and what transport we use.

“That’s why we’ve built new bus and cycle lanes as part of a network to encourage alternative forms of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport for some journeys.

“The idea is to use the available road space much more efficiently by encouraging people to use bus, bike and foot.”