We await with interest the results of an ongoing trial ban on heavy goods vehicles overtaking on a short section of the A34.

The Highways Agency says it introduced the experiment partly as a safety measure, and partly to assess its effects on congestion.

Since March 2010, an overtaking restriction, which is in place between 6am and 8pm each day, has banned vehicles of 7.5 tonnes and over from using the outside lane on a mile-long northbound stretch of the A34 near East Ilsley.

Similar schemes in other parts of the country have been made permanent, following trials. The agency says it is possible that the order could be used on other short stretches, but would be impractical on longer sections of road.

An Oxfordshire county councillor called for the idea to be extended all the way from the M4 to the M40. We understand the frustration that lies behind that suggestion, but doubt whether a huge gaggle of lorries travelling in the inside lane of the A34 all the way through Oxfordshire, would improve road safety or ease congestion. The simple problem, as we all know, is that the A34 is a dual carriageway struggling to cope with motorway levels of traffic.