PLANS by European law-makers to force cars manufacturers to fit cars with "all day" lights would not improve road safety, according to transport minister and Kent Labour MP Dr Steve Ladyman.

The minister said he was fending off a bid by the European Union that could lead to all cars being built with lights that stayed on all the time.

Dr Ladyman said he was unconvinced the move would improve road safety and could even lead to more casualties, especially among motorcyclists.

He said: "We are opposed to this and one of the reasons is that it could decrease the visibility of motorcyclists, who stand out because they do have lights on all the time. If everybody had lights on, it would increase casualties among motorcyclists."

While he accepted that in some northern European countries there might be an argument for lights to be used during the day, the same could not be said of countries like Spain and Portugal.

He criticised countries who were backing the plans but were failing to take account of other factors that contributed to road accidents.

"Some countries seem to think that reducing road casualties can be achieved by doing simple things rather than tackling drink drivers and those driving too fast," he said.