The Vauxhall Zafira has been named as the most accident-prone car in the country.

The family MPV was found to be involved in more accidents per 10,000 models than any other car, according to data from the Department for Transport.

The figures show that while some other cars were involved in more accidents overall, Zafira drivers were more than twice as likely to be involved in a crash as owners of the country’s most popular models.

As the best-selling car in the country it’s not surprising that the Ford Fiesta was involved in more accidents than any other model. But with 1.5 million Fiestas on the road and 35,602 involved in a crash in the last five years, the supermini has an accident rate of 233 per 10,000.

In contrast, with just 236,269 examples on the roads and 12,076 reported accidents, the Zafira recorded an accident rate of 511 crashes per 10,000 cars, putting it at the top of the list of shame.

The Vauxhall Astra had the second highest accident rate, with 363 reported crashes per 10,000 cars, just ahead the Renault Clio (335) and Vauxhall Corsa (314), with the BMW 3 Series (297) rounding out the top five.

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The figures were obtained by Rivervale Leasing, which measured reported accidents for each model against the number of that car registered in order to reflect the likelihood of it being involved in a crash, rather than just the raw number of accidents, which would be dominated by the most common cars.

The accident data for the period 2015-19 shows that by brand, Vauxhall had the highest accident rate per 10,000, at 335, just ahead of Renault with 334 and Peugeot with 304.

The data also revealed the brands with the lowest accident rates, which were mostly a mix of classics and supercars, both of which are likely to travel fewer miles than mainstream cars from the likes of Vauxhall or Ford.

Of the makes with more than 10,000 models registered, Morris recorded the lowest accident rate at 16 per 10,000, ahead of Austin on 26. Any suggestion that is because they spend more time being repaired than driven is pure mischief making.

Behind them Tesla (28), Ferrari (39) and Aston Martin (40) were also far less likely to be involved in a shunt or scrape.

Offering advice should you be unlucky enough to be involved in a collision, Bud Johnson, marketing manager at Rivervale Leasing said: “Ultimately, safety is a top priority for any driver, so you should take steps to avoid an accident in the first place – stick to the speed limit, never tailgate and always keep your eyes on the road. If you unfortunately do get into an accident, stop your vehicle as soon as you can safely and call an ambulance if anyone is seriously hurt. You will likely be in shock after a crash, so remember to take time-stamped photographs of your vehicle and other cars involved to remind you of the details.”