DRIVERS up and down the UK’s cities, towns and rural areas are at risk of accidents because critical road signs are hidden behind overgrown foliage.

An article by scrap vehicle comparison website scrapcarcomparison has revealed that more than 400 casualties including three deaths have been reported in figures provided by the Department for Transport, where overgrown vegetation was given as a contributory factor during 2015.

The figures come months after the Daily Echo reported the death of biker Zane Boddy.

Mr Boddy, 36, from Eastleigh died after striking a give way sign on Corhampton Lane, near Bishop’s Waltham

An inquest heard he failed to see two road signs, one of which was covered in foliage.

However, his death was not unusual as across the UK the mixed wet and warm weather, has led to a worrying amount of road signs being lost to nature and unseen by drivers.

This has bene made worse by decreasing council budgets for highways – a further expected shortfall of £162 million expected for 2017/18 on last year.

Spending by local authorities on highways and transportation is set to fall to £4.24 billion in 2017-18 compared with £4.4 billion in 2016-17.

That is according to the ‘Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing: 2017-18 Budget, England’ produced by the Department of Communities and Local Government.

This is a drop of £162 million as councils struggle to balance the books as they try and maintain the roads.

A spokesperson for scrapcarcomparison said: “The rural areas are claiming vehicles weekly as drivers are not aware of junctions, bends or speed limits.

“We’ve had drivers writing off their cars in the past week due to overgrown vegetation.

“One lady missed signs for a bend and ended up in a field.

“Luckily she was okay - but her car was written off.

“There’s been a few drivers writing off their cars in areas they’ve never driven before and have no knowledge of the roads – so hidden signs become an increased danger.”