A BIDFORD county councillor is calling for a change in the law to prevent foreign nationals escaping prosecution in the UK.

County councillor Peter Barnes for the Bidford ward urged police to act after he was in a car crash with a German national.

Mr Barnes suffered whiplash and concussion after being involved in a collision with the lorry on Milcote Road, Welford.

Cllr Barnes wrote to Warwickshire police urging them to prosecute the lorry driver but was told that because the other driver was a foreign national they had no jurisdiction to prosecute him.

Cllr Barnes said: "I am totally horrified by the fact that they can't prosecute him. I shall now lobby the MEP, Liz Lynne, to see if we can change this and I believe so is the parish council."

Bidford parish councillors also wrote a letter to Warwickshire police expressing their concern over the matter in June.

Both the parish council and Cllr Barnes were informed by letter from Warwickshire police that UK courts 'have no power to prosecute foreign nationals in the ECC or elsewhere'.

Eric Tomson, of the manager accident and process for Warwickshire police, said: "The courts cannot issue summonses against foreign nationals for service in their own country."

"It is not just Warwickshire that has the problem with prosecuting foreign nationals and drivers - it's a problem throughout the country. We cannot prosecute any drivers as soon as they have returned to their home countries. We could use extradition laws but those powers are only really reserved for serious offences."

Members of the Bidford Parish Council agreed at a meeting on Monday night to lobby the MEP over this matter as an area of concern for motorists.