Almost eight out of ten people in Weymouth and Portland take a 10-minute walk at least once a week, according to the Department for Transport.

Figures from Sport England's Active Lives Survey show that Weymouth and Portland has one of the highest rates in the country of weekly walking.

Some 78% of people walk for at least 10 consecutive minutes per week, compared to the national average of 69%.

Public Health England has encouraged adults to walk briskly for 10 minutes a day.

Some 40% of the people surveyed walked at least five times a week - higher than the national average of 32%.

A 10-minute walk could include walking to work or to the shops, as well as taking a walk specifically for recreation or exercise.

The annual Active Lives survey, which ran from November 2016 to November 2017, asked a random sample of 239 adults over the age of 16 in Weymouth and Portland how active they had been in the past four weeks.

However, almost 30% of people in West Dorset fail to walk for 10 consecutive minutes a week, according to the Department for Transport.

Some 59% of people said they took a recreational stroll at least once a week, compared with 30% that travelled at least once a week on foot.

Sport England, which conducted the survey, aims to help get everyone in England to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity.

It focuses much of its work on programmes that help people who do very little or no physical activity, and groups who are typically less active.

In June, Public Health England and the Royal College of GPs launched a campaign to promote the health benefits of taking a brisk 10-minute walk every day.

PHE's physical activity lead Dr Mike Brannan said: "While we're starting to see more people being active, getting the nation moving presents a significant challenge and won't be solved overnight."

Dr Brannan said that being physically active reduces the risk of serious illnesses, like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

"For most people, walking or cycling is the easiest way to be active," he added. "Even a 10-minute brisk walk every day can make a real difference to your health."

In Weymouth and Portland people were more likely to walk as a leisure activity than for travel.

Some 61% of people said they took a recreational stroll at least once a week, compared with 45% that travelled at least once a week on foot.

Walking was least popular in Fenland, where 43% of survey respondents admitted they didn't manage a weekly 10-minute walk.

In 2017 the Department for Transport announced it would be investing £1.2 billion of funding into helping more people to walk and cycle.

It is investing an extra £620,000 on outreach programmes to encourage children to walk to school.

Transport Minister Jesse Norman said: "Cycling and walking provide enormous benefits to both public health and the environment, and it's good to see evidence that people are opting for a more active lifestyle.

"But it is also clear that as a cycling and walking nation the UK has a long way to go to match the best international models."