The average car harbours more than 500 colonies of germs and moulds, according to research.
Microbiologists tested five cars belonging to five stereotypical motorists, including a boy racer, young woman, family, dog owner and a mature driver, for the study commissioned by car-care company Comma.
The dog owner's car had the most bacteria and mould colonies present (more than 766). Germs in the driver's footwell and on the floor of the boot were so numerous as to be uncountable.
The boy racer's car came second with 541 germ colonies, 192 of which were found on the driver's seat, followed by the young woman in third place with 468.
Despite regularly carrying children and young babies, the family car came fourth with 264 germ colonies, while the smallest number (226) was found in the mature motorist’s car.
The most common germs found were staphylococcus, a species that lives in and around the nose, and bacillus, normally found in soil and stagnant water.
The dirtiest areas in each of the cars were the driver's footwells where, in the dog owner's, boy racer's and young woman's cars, the germs were too many to accurately count.
A spokesman for Comma said: 'Some of us neglect cleaning our cars in a way we never would with our homes, so these high results were not that surprising.'
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