AN MP has called on the Government’s new transport minister to back the Lancashire Telegraph’s Wasted Lives campaign.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has written to Geoff Hoon urging him to support our proposals for a new graduated licence scheme as “a sure fire way of cutting road deaths”.

Mr Hoon has just taken up the post after Ruth Kelly quit, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Speaking from Westminster, the MP said: “The campaign, spearheaded by the Lancashire Telegraph, is targeted at young men who, behind the wheel, can be a menace to themselves and others.

“I want the new transport minister to look at the issue afresh. All my colleagues in East Lancashire, without exception, are signed up to the Telegraph's campaign.”

The Government has so far ruled out a graduated licence and wants improved driver pre-test education and training instead. The Government's consultation on the proposed new drivers scheme ended earlier this week.

Bosses at the Driving Standards Agency, which is running the proposals, are adamant that a graduated licence will not be brought in, a stance backed by roads minister Jim Fitzpatrick, who has not changed his job in the cabinet re-shuffle.

Paul Butler, the director of research at the Driving Standards Agency, said the changes would see people in the future getting behind the wheel after passing their test more prepared than ever for the challenges of the road.

But Mr Prentice said: “In East Lancashire, between 2000 and 2006, there were 22 male fatalities and three female fatalities resulting from accidents involving a young male driver.

“We, the Telegraph and the people of east Lancashire want graduated licences in two parts. Part one could be granted at age 17, but with restrictions, so that a 17-year-old could not drive on a motorway without an instructor, would have to adhere to a 50 mph maximum on all other roads, and could only drive cars limited to 80 bhp—brake horsepower—which I am told is something like a Ford Focus.

“Furthermore, crucially, these young people could not drive with passengers aged between 10 and 25 until they passed part two, which would be taken a year later at age 18. We think that the effective age at which a full driving licence can be held should be 18.

“That might sound draconian, but tragedy has touched so many families in east Lancashire that we need such measures.”