The growing ranks of people working from home could help ease traffic congestion in the future, according to an RAC report.

Rapid developments in telecommunications mean that less people will have to commute to work, creating more favourable conditions on Britain's roads, it says.

Report statistics show that within a decade, working from home could cut commuting by 15%, while internet shopping could reduce car trips by another 10%.

The government should be doing more to promote teleworking, says the RAC Foundation, as the savings to the economy could reach nearly �2bn a year.

Levels still rising

It suggests the government should lead by example, encouraging civil servants to do more work from home.

One pilot project by BT has shown staff saving more than 3,000 miles a year.

Teleworkers are most likely to be people with higher incomes and longer journeys to work, says the report.

There could also be reductions in business travel, and in lorry journeys, as a result of the boom in working from home.

The RAC says overall traffic levels would continue to rise in the future, but more slowly than would otherwise be the case.