Walking is one of the easiest ways to keep fit and stay healthy - but a surprising number of people in south east London and north Kent do not manage even a 10-minute walk once a week.

According to new data from the Department for Transport, about a third of people in each borough do not currently walk continuously for 10 minutes every week.

In Dartford it is 38 per cent, in Bexley it is 30 per cent, in Bromley it is 25 per cent, in Lewisham it is 27 per cent and in Greenwich it is 27 per cent.

And many people have not even been for a 10-minute walk in the past month.

Those figures are 28 percent for Dartford, 20 per cent in Bexley, 16 per cent in Bromley, 20 per cent in Lewisham and 21 per cent in Greenwich.

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

People in urban areas were more likely to walk as a mode of transport than those in the countryside, according to the survey, and people in rural areas 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 healthy weight.

The latest figures from Public Health England show that a large number of adults are obese or overweight (67 per cent in Dartford, 60 per cent in Bexley, 61 per cent in Bromley, 58 per cent in Lewisham and 63 per cent in Greenwich).

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.