Motorists could save up to “two litres of fuel an hour” by pressing a button found in most modern vehicles, according to experts. Switching on traffic updates on sat nav devices will help road users dodge heavy traffic by identifying a handy detour.

Driving a slightly different way to a destination may sound like an inconvenience, but it could pay off in the long run. Not only could motorists reach their destination quicker, not sitting idle in rows of traffic could also have major petrol and diesel consumption benefits.

According to experts at CarShop, sitting idle in traffic that is not moving anywhere could “burn fuel” - meaning avoiding this could be a boost.

CarShop explained: “We’ve all been there, finding ourselves lost and driving in circles trying to find our way back on track, but getting lost does waste fuel by driving unnecessary miles. Making sure the route is planned and address details are entered into a sat nav before setting off can help avoid this.

“Ensuring the sat nav has traffic updates is also useful for saving fuel as sitting in traffic jams is also costly, with the average car burning two litres of fuel an hour in traffic jams." Car engines are constantly burning fuel just to keep themselves running, with the vehicle still performing a range of operations behind the scenes.

“Avoiding sitting in standstill traffic can contribute to fuel-saving efforts, as your car drives most efficiently when in a higher gear - as opposed to crawling. Some sat-navs will even allow you to select the most economical route to help you avoid fuel-stealing obstacles such as large hills and heavy stop-start traffic.

“For example, there’s an ‘eco-friendly routing’ feature on Google Maps, which instructs drivers on the most economical route to take.”