The number of foreign lorries on UK roads is at an all time high, with one in eight trucks now registered overseas.

The majority of these pass through Kent, as the county is a corridor for the rest of the country.

But as foreign lorries do not pay road tax, foreign trucks are not contributing to the cost of maintaining the county’s motorways and roads.

Statistics just released show a seven per cent rise in foreign trucks coming to the UK between 2006 and 2007.

Some 1,719,000 lorries came into the UK last year, whereas just 400,000 UK-registered lorries went abroad.

The UK haulage industry is suffering a 14-year low of overseas trips. UK hauliers now account for just 19 per cent of international road haulage traffic between Britain and continental Europe. Twelve years ago, in 1995, UK carriers accounted for more than half of international traffic.

Simon Chapman, chief economist at the Freight Transport Association (FTA) believes this is because foreign lorries have an unfair advantage over UK companies.

He said: “Foreign trucks are able to fill up with cheap foreign diesel in France and Luxembourg before they get on the ferry or shuttle, and when they are in the UK they are able to compete at levels of price which domestic UK transport operators simply can’t touch.”

The FTA is again pushing for the introduction of a Britdisc or Vignette system, as exists on the continent, so all trucks would pay road tax when they enter the UK.

It is also calling for the chancellor, Alistair Darling to reduce diesel duty by 25 pence per litre down to the EU average.