If you're heading out of work to the car now do yourself a favour - check your fuel!

For nearly 500 drivers failed to do just that on the M20 alone in the last year.

Now Highways Agency experts are urging drivers to check their gauge - and engage their brain - before pulling off the handbrake.

Figures just released show that between July 1 last year and the end of June this year 455 drivers broke down on the M20 because they ran out of petrol. That's an average of around nine every mile, or more than one every day.

Peter Connor, Highways Agency spokesman, said there could be a variety of reasons why drivers run the car on empty: “It could be laziness, apathy, thinking their partner has filled up the car; it could be that they are only thinking they are travelling from Maidstone to Sevenoaks and could make the journey.”

Audio: Peter Connor, Highways Agency spokesman

Mr Connor says it's an issue that can be avoided:

“Breaking down because you have got a carburettor problem you can’t really avoid because you don’t know it is going to break, but there is a gauge right in front of your eyes in the car that tells you how much fuel you have got.”

Tim Lyver, a route performance manager for the Highways Agency in the South East, said:

“It is not only hazardous to the driver and passengers but to other road users as well, especially if the vehicle has to stop in a live lane.

“We want drivers to be aware of the risks and also encourage them to check their fuel level before they set off. It’s important that if you are travelling over long distances, that you continually monitor your fuel level.”