One in five people who have a job in Brighton and Hove walk to work.

The city has the highest proportion of residents who commute on foot in the south east, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) has revealed.

It found that of the almost 140,000 in employment, 20.6% did not use a car, bike or public transport to travel to and from their work.

This is well above the national average of 10.7%.

Welcoming the figures, the CSP called for more people to get active on their commute and for councils to do what they could to help.

CSP chairwoman Helena Johnson said: “Walking is free and good for your health so it’s understandable that more people are doing it to get to work.

“Clearly some people need to use alternative modes of transport, but even then there are easy ways to build exercise into that journey – park further away from the office or get off the bus a stop early, for instance.

“Councils must do their part by promoting safe and enjoyable walking routes and removing some of the barriers that prevent people from getting exercise.

“Britain is facing an obesity crisis that is fuelled by inactivity.

"It is essential that people find time to exercise and hopefully these statistics are an encouraging sign that the message is getting through.”