Immigrants blamed for more crashes

Drivers from eastern Europe also struggle to understand road signs, which is adding to the surge in the number of foreign nationals involved in crashes in the last two years.

Chief Inspector Rick Dowell, head of Dorset Police's traffic unit, spoke out after Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence called for more resources to cope with an influx of migrant workers.

Ms Spence said the rise in foreign nationals left her force struggling to deal with certain offences, including knife crime and drink-driving.

Mr Dowell said his officers were witnessing an increase in the number of foreign nationals involved in drink-driving.

A rising number of immigrants were also involved in fatal or serious injury collisions, he said.

"The attitude of eastern European drivers to road safety is not as educated as ours in this country," Mr Dowell told the Daily Mail.

He said Latvians had the same attitude to speeding as the British 10 years ago and that immigrants had a similar attitude to drink-driving as people in this country 20 years ago.

He added: "But in eastern European countries, especially the Baltic states, the drink-driving legislation isn't enforced as rigorously as in this country and perhaps they don't appreciate the dangers of it."

Mr Dowell cited the higher fatality rate in countries like Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Estonia.