DRIVERS travelling to the Commonwealth Games this month are being urged to plan their journeys.

About 40 per cent of the one million tickets sold for the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have been sold to people living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Research suggests that many travelling to the games, which take place between Wednesday, July 23, and Sunday, August 3, are prepared to spend up two hours on the road and plan to base themselves in towns and cities in the North-West, North-East and Yorkshire.

Phil Stockford, Highways Agency events planning manager, said: “Given the numbers of people travelling to the Games from outside Scotland there is likely to be significant extra traffic on border routes over the fortnight.

“We are not anticipating huge problems but we are doing a lot of work to ensure people have smooth journeys up the M6 and A1 routes into Scotland.

“Drivers can help themselves by planning ahead - including checking traffic conditions before setting off but also ensuring they and their vehicles are fit for quite long journeys up to Glasgow.”

Highways Agency traffic officers will be deployed on key routes such as the M6 and the A1 and A1(M).

Routine roadwork will be postponed, although some overnight work is possible and drivers should check traffic conditions beforehand.

The Highways Agency has a range of journey planning tools and live traffic information on its website, highways.gov.uk/traffic, local and national radio, electronic road signs, mobile platforms and the Twitter feed @GamesTravel2014

Road users can also call the Highways Agency Information Line, 0300 123 5000, when safe to do so.

More information and advice is also available online at glasgow2014.com/games/transport and transportscotland.gov.uk/transport-2014