The Government has agreed rules to limit the number of days that foreign heavy goods vehicles can operate in the UK.

Transport ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed that domestic haulage work carried out by foreign-registered HGVs must not be "permanent or continuous".

In addition they will be limited to three operations in seven days.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) welcomed the news saying it made “the best of difficult EU negotiations over the definition of cabotage” - the ability for a lorry to carry out work in a country not its own.

"We have got a compromise with other members states over the context that is the best we could realistically have hoped for and better than we might have expected,” said RHA chief executive Roger King.

However, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) said that while it welcomed the news, there are still massive threats to the industry here.

FTA director of policy James Hookham said: “The 25ppl differential in diesel prices between the UK and the rest of Europe remains in itself a major concern to the transport industry…the long-term solution must be for the UK to make progress towards bringing diesel duty levels more in line with the EU average.”