HGV drivers arriving in Harwich port this month will be given special equipment designed to help them drive on the left-hand-side of the road.

HGV drivers arriving in Harwich port this month will be given special equipment designed to help them drive on the left-hand-side of the road.

The department for transport will be handing out 4,000 Fresnel lenses to drivers in the hope they will reduce the number of sideswiping accidents at roundabouts.

The lenses aid left-hand-drive vehicles by reducing their blind spot and helping them to see cars travelling on their inside.

Last winter 40,000 Fresnel lenses were distributed to HGV drivers travelling through Dover, helping reduced the number of sideswipe incidents in the south east from 23 per week to 11.

The lenses will not be given out at Felixstowe however because most trucks using the port are right-hand-drive lorries.

Derek Turner, the Highways Agency's director of traffic operations, said: “These lenses are placed on the passenger-side window, and give the driver a greater view of overtaking vehicles.”