THE school holidays are upon us, and for many motorists they are a godsend.

Every time the kids are off, it feels as if half the usual amount of cars have been wiped off the road – with the traffic running a lot more smoother.

Bridge Foot is still a pain, as it always will be, but it’s often just about bearable at Christmas or in the summer.

But just how much busier is the traffic when the kids are in school?

To find out, we at the Warrington Guardian carried an unscientific study of our staff during the Easter holidays.

Our editorial team timed just how long it took them to get them to work and contrasted them with the week following pupils going back to school.

And the results showed that the holidays shaved an average of seven minutes off commuters’ travel times to our office on Cygnet Court, Centre Park.

The average commute during the holidays was 28 minutes, compared to 35 minutes when the schools were in.

Staff based in Warrington breezed in in 17 minutes during the holidays – with the shortest travel time standing at 13 minutes in the car.

Meanwhile, the lengthiest trip across town was 28 minutes when the schools were back in.

And the average for Warrington-based reporters during term time was 24 minutes.

For out of town staff, the average commute was 33 minutes during the break – compared to a usual 43-minute trip out of the holidays.

Experts believe there are a number of factors for quieter roads when the kids are off – from a lack of school run traffic to teachers being off and parents taking annual leave in order to look after the young ones during their break.

But we are just going to enjoy the extra few minutes in bed in the morning.

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A Highways England spokesman said: "Typically during a school holiday, traffic levels do drop during peak times with slight increases in traffic levels during the traditionally quieter daytime period as families on a break head out on vacation or for the day.

"Speaking generally it can feel quieter on the network during school holiday periods, but with a notable exception when school holidays coincide with bank holiday weekends when our motorways do get busy at key times as people head off on or return from a long weekend break.

"To help people on bank holiday journeys, we actually removed more than 700 miles of roadworks from 6am on Friday until just after midnight on Monday night – meaning around 97 per cent of motorways and major A-roads will be roadworks-free in time for Whitsun.

"Drivers and their families can help themselves by planning journeys – making sure they and their vehicles are prepared for a long trip by carrying out basic vehicle checks – like tyre pressures – and carrying food and water in the event of being caught up in congestion or incidents."