Ban on deadly bull bars urged by MP

New moves to ban the use of bull bars on British roads were launched in Parliament yesterday by a Labour MP.

Paul Flynn, the member for Newport West, is making a second attempt to prevent the use of the bars, which are said to have been responsible for a number of deaths. Last year he introduced a similar Bill which ran out of time after being "talked out" by a minister.

Mr Flynn said the metal bars, used in Australia to protect cars from kangaroos, were of use in this country only to farmers and ram-raiders. Six per cent of deaths and a fifth of serious injuries caused by vehicles fitted with them could be prevented if they were removed, he said.

The bars could also be dangerous to the driver of the vehicle, the MP added. "We know of a long, sad litany of casualties who have died because of what is a macho fashion. There is no sensible reason to have the fronts of cars cluttered in that way," Mr Flynn told the house.

Earlier, he held a press conference with Ann Baggs from Whitley, in Wiltshire, whose 10-year-old daughter Helen died after being hit by a Land Rover Discovery fitted with bull bars in July 1995.

Mr Flynn's Bill was given an unopposed first reading but will not become law without full Government support because of pressure on parliamentary time.