DRIVERS are urged to be patient today at the start of a traffic census aimed at helping to shape the future of a city's road network.

Motorists travelling in the Wearside area have been told they may be asked to help the survey.

However, no information is being made public as to the exact location where motorists will be stopped.

The census will provide transport engineers with information about the pattern of traffic movements in the area.

Motorists will be asked about the origin and destination of their journeys to help build up a computer model of traffic flows in Sunderland and neighbouring areas.

Northumbria Police will help council officials carry out the survey.

Drivers who are selected to take part will be asked to give brief details of their journey before being allowed on their way.

Although this will inevitably lead to some disruption, the 11-day survey has been spread over two-and-a-half weeks in an effort to minimise the upset for drivers.

No more than two roads will be affected at any one time.

The city council's head of traffic engineering, Andy Morris, said: "We would like to apologise to motorists in advance for any disruption they may suffer during the traffic census.

"The information collected during this exercise is vital in helping us shape future road improvements, which should be of benefit to drivers across the city.

"We would ask motorists to bear with us as we carry out this vital work."

Councillor Ian Galbraith, the city council cabinet member for the environment, development and transport, said: "A key purpose of the census is to help us to get a good understanding of the public's travelling habits.

"Were we to publish census point locations in advance, it would inevitably cause motorists to divert to other routes, thereby defeating the whole purpose of the survey.

"The results will be invaluable in helping us to deal better with traffic demands in the future."

It is ten years since the last city-wide traffic census.