Around a third of Dorset residents don't manage 10 minutes walking each week, while two thirds are overweight or obese, new figures suggest.

The Department for Transport statistics indicate that 37 per cent of Poole residents, 31 per cent in Dorset and 29 per cent in Bournemouth don't get the barest minimum of recommended ambulatory activity per week.

The national average is 32 per cent.

However, new figures from Public Health England show that 61 per cent of adults in Poole are overweight or obese, along with 63 per cent in Bournemouth and 59 per cent in Dorset.

The Transport stats come from the Active Lives Survey - an annual questionnaire which asks people over the age of 16 in every local authority area in England about how much sport and physical activity they do.

It found a large minority of residents - 26 per cent in Poole, 21 per cent in Dorset and 20 per cent in Bournemouth - had not walked for 10 consecutive minutes at any point in the previous month.

However, another minority - 24 per cent in Poole, 30 per cent in Dorset and 28 per cent in Bournemouth, walked for 10 minutes or more at least five times a week.

Around half of those surveyed in each area walked for leisure once a week, while around a third walked specifically to get from A to B.

People in urban areas were more likely to walk as a mode of transport than those in the countryside, according to the survey, which found nine out of ten areas with the highest number of adults walking for travel were in London.

In rural areas, people were more likely to walk as a leisure activity rather than for travel.

The NHS recommends that all adults take 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, every week. It says regular walking reduces the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, as well as helping maintain a health weight.

An NHS report on physical activity found people are leading less active lives than in previous decades, due to factors like increased car ownership and a reduction in the number of manual jobs.

"For most people, the easiest way to get moving is to make activity part of everyday life, like walking or cycling instead of using the car to get around", the guidance says.