Road accidents involving foreign heavy goods vehicles on Britain's roads have increased around 10% compared to last year, despite Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon's efforts to cut this number.

Around 30 people die each year in road accidents with left hand drive EU HGVs, often when a truck pulls out on its blind side failing to see vehicles in its blind spot, this is referred to as "side swiping".

In a bid to combat these types of truck accidents the Department for Transport (DfT) has been handing out special mirrors which can be attached to improve visibility.

Figures compiled for the year up to the end of February show that there were 9,000 lorry accident which involved foreign vehicles.

The figures show that Eastern European drivers are recording the highest number of road accidents, with Poland being the worst followed by the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Hungary.

Some speculation into the increasing number of accidents is that the roads are quieter due to the increase in fuel costs, enabling vehicles to travel faster, particularly on motorways.