The march of monochrome is draining the colour from UK cars, according to latest statistics.

While the number of red-coloured and blue-coloured vehicles has dipped over the last year, drivers sporting black-hued motors has risen as has the number of grey-coloured cars.

From the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the figures showed that silver was the most-popular car colour in 2013, accounting for 24.9% of all vehicles.

Second was blue (20.3%), but this represented a 2.7% dip on the 2012 figure. In contrast black rose 4.8% to 18.4% and grey was up 5.6% to 10.8%, just behind red which slipped 0.5% to 10.9%.

The SMMT figures also showed that the number of cars on UK roads in 2013 had reached more than 31.91 million, with the total number increasing by 436,000 last year - the fastest growth for 10 years.

Cars older than 12 years rose 11.3% against 2012 with 2.06 million more cars recorded in the latest census. Compared with a decade ago, the average age of a car increased by a full year (to 7.7 years old), as the trend grew longer for cars remaining on the road.

Almost a fifth of models on the roads were built in the UK, with only Germany boasting a higher market share. Spain, France and Japan make up the top five, which collectively accounts for more than three quarters of the total number of cars.

Car ownership increased the most last year in Worcester, Aberdeenshire in Scotland and in Corby in Northamptonshire. Car decline was highest in Liverpool, Blackpool, Swansea and Brighton.

There are currently more than 1,453 different models on UK roads, but the Ford Focus takes the top spot for popularity, boasting almost 1.5 million owners. The smaller Ford Fiesta secures second place.

These are the top models on UK roads:

1. Ford Focus 1,462,735

2. Ford Fiesta 1,423,254

3. Vauxhall Corsa 1,246,650

4. Vauxhall Astra 1,188,385

5. Volkswagen Golf 998,645

6 Renault Clio 680,890

7. Volkswagen Polo 625,144

8. Ford Mondeo 562,948