A company that runs two of Bradford’s biggest car parks has conducted a survey which found women are better at parking than men, contrary to popular belief.

Stereotyped views about women’s spatial skills should be put into reverse gear, it appears, following a study by NCP, which operates multi-storey car parks in Hall Ings and Southgate, in the city centre.

An analysis of drivers across the country, looking at technique, accuracy and time taken to park, gave women a score of 13.4 out of 20, compared to 12.3 for men.

Although women are slower than men at parking, taking an average of 21 seconds compared to 16 for men, they scored better on finding a space, positioning the car, reversing into spaces and making sure the car was centrally placed once in a space.

The study found men often missed available spaces by driving too quickly.

The NCP’s research found well over a third of women opted to reverse into spaces – the method preferred by instructors – compared to just over a quarter of men.

Men were also happier with the position of their cars once in the space, with just 29 per cent choosing to start repositioning the vehicle. A majority of women shuffled the car forwards and backwards to obtain a better final position, the study found, resulting in more than half of women parking centrally, compared to a quarter of men.

The study found men also loved to “pose park” when accompanied by a female passenger, by opting to squeeze into a small space when a bigger one was available.