COMMUTERS told today why they spend up to two hours each day travelling to and from their work in York.

They said personal and domestic commitments were the primary reason for living so far from their workplace, with York's high property prices and the joy of country living additional factors in some cases.

Their comments came after the RAC reported today that British commuters have the longest average travelling times in Europe, at 45 minutes per day - and with the average distance travelled rising 17 per cent in the past decade.

The RAC Foundation, the motoring organisation's campaigning arm, also said that a majority of commuters outside London used cars to get to work.

RAC Foundation's executive director Edmund King said: "Our research shows that we are a nation of car commuters. Drivers would rather sit in their cars twice as long than change jobs, move house or change their work base."

The Evening Press spoke to half a dozen long-distance commuters to ask why they spent so much of their lives travelling, and whether they preferred to go by car or train.

Charles Hutchinson said he travelled 52 miles a day driving to and from his home on the far side of Harrogate.

"I do it because there's no greater joy than living in the countryside of Yorkshire."

Stuart Watts, who commutes 35 miles to York from his home near Hull, said he had considered moving, but his children were settled in school and his wife had a job in the area. He often spent the "dead time" in his car listening to audio books from the library.

David Park, who travels to York from Darlington each day, said he split the travelling half and half between car and train, partly to avoid too great a depreciation on his car. He said rising property prices in York were one factor in his decision not to move here.

Jonathan Finn, who has been commuting to York for a year from Leeds, said he lived there because he had settled there with his girlfriend. "The commute to work is OK for me," he said.

Clare Walker, who commutes by train from Harrogate, said she lived near the town's station and worked near York station. "To come by car would take twice as long."

Updated: 10:31 Tuesday, July 22, 2003