The Department of Transport (DfT) has said it would like to see the use of in-car radar detectors banned.

Discussions are taking place with the police to find ways to make speed camera spotters illegal. The DfT says motorists using a radar detector were preventing the police from obtaining speeding convictions.

The news has, not surprisingly, caused an angry response from suppliers of speed detection devices.

Mark Cornwall, of Car Parts Direct, says: “A Mori poll has proved conclusively that a radar detector's user is 28% less likely to have an accident than a none-user. The DfT aims to try to ban radar detectors is just unbelievable – a radar detector is a proven road safety device. This demonstrates yet again the government’s greed for cash from the motorists and bears no relation to road safety.”

Radar detection sales in the UK have increased by 122% this year according to a recent survey. Cornwall claims the UK is now the biggest market in Europe for speed camera spotters due to the massive increase in speed cameras. Motorists' fear of losing their licence, job and income has made a radar detector an absolute necessity for many motorists.