Safety campaigners in Huddersfield have voiced concerns over a move to increase lorry speeds.

Brake, the road safety charity, has reiterated its concern as higher speed limits for large lorries come into effect on Monday.

As announced by the Government last year, speed limits in England and Wales for HGVs over 7.5 tonnes will rise from 40mph to 50mph on single carriageways and from 50mph to 60mph on dual carriageways.

Some motoring organisations have welcomed the move but Brake is fiercely opposed.

Gary Rae, campaigns manager for Brake, said: “We are disappointed that the Government has gone against the advice of road safety groups on this issue.

“The decision to increase HGV speed limits is short-sighted and runs against work to more effectively manage traffic speeds and reduce casualties on our roads.

“The relationship between speed and casualties is a proven one, so allowing the largest vehicles on our roads to reach higher speeds more often risks more deaths, serious injuries, and additional cost to the taxpayer.

“The Government itself has admitted that this move will likely have no economic or road safety benefit. It is a move designed to legitimise the dangerous behaviour of those who already break the speed limit while putting the safety of the law-abiding majority second. It sets a dangerous precedent that if traffic laws are persistently flouted. The Government would rather change them than enforce them.”

But the AA believes it will ease the frustrations for other road-users.

Edmund King. the AA president, said: “Car drivers heading home at the end of the Easter bank holiday may notice and wonder why big lorries are going faster than at the start of the Easter break.

“Hopefully, this speed increase will ease the frustration of drivers who find themselves ‘stuck’ behind an HGV on a winding single carriage road.

“For drivers who are confident enough and used to passing HGVs on single carriage roads, they may have to lower their overtaking expectations or adapt their ‘roadcraft’ in anticipation of big lorries going faster on the straighter stretches of road.”