TRAFFIC on major roads in Scotland grew by almost 6% in a decade, more than twice the rate in the rest of Britain.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that traffic levels rose by 5.8% between 2002 and 2012, while the rise across Britain was 2.5%. Greenhouse gas emissions, not including those from aviation and shipping, fell by a third between 1990 and 2011.

The analysis also found Scotland's unemployment rate was lower than the national average and the proportion of children in households where nobody was in emp-loyment was lower than the other countries, at 12%, with England at 13.6% and Northern Ireland at 16.7%.