A BIDFORD councillor has welcomed a move to clamp foreign lorry drivers involved in accidents, forcing them to pay up before they leave the country.

County councillor Peter Barnes said he was was delighted with the news after five months lobbying the government to impose such sanctions after being involved in a car accident with a foreign lorry driver last November.

The councillor pleaded with Warwickshire police in a bid to change the law after they told him they could not prosecute the German lorry driver.

Warwickshire police told Cllr Barnes they had no powers to prosecute foreign drivers who commit offences in the UK when they have returned home.

Cllr Barnes said: "I'm very pleased with the outcome and I think we've achieved this with the help of the parish council. I know the HGV association has been trying to do get this for many years to get a level playing field on our roads. I am very pleased that's its taken such a short while."

Under a new amendment to the Road Safety Bill, police will be able to hand out on the spot fines to overseas motorists who break the law. Drivers who do not pay will have their vehicles clamped at the side of the road.

MEP Liz Lynne, who supported Councillor Barnes, said she was pleased with the new move.

She said: "Many foreign drivers who broke the law escaped prosecution entirely, and those who were prosecuted often returned home and then failed to pay up. This is the only way to ensure that offending foreign drivers are brought to justice."