In a new scheme which was rolled out last week, Dartmoor ponies and cattle are to be given reflective collars to make them more visible to drivers.

A small group of Dartmoor farmers will now trial the collars in the hope that it will reduce the number of animals injured or killed in traffic accidents on Dartmoor roads.

Farmer Graham Colton, who has campaigned for better road safety and will now trial the new collars on his livestock, said: ‘You’ve got to have a system that will impact on the driver and put his brain in gear.

‘We are not going to be able to put collars on every animal but it’s a start, it’s something that’s going to flash up but it’s got to part of a much bigger project.

‘We don’t need to target tourists because they usually drive very carefully, it’s the locals who know every corner and every bump in the road and have maybe forgotten that an animal might be on it.

‘The number of animals we lose can vary from year to year. We can lose four or five cows in an autumn. It’s not necessarily an instant death or a broken leg. It can be an injured animal that we find later on where the motorist has hit an animal and driven away and not reported it.

‘It’s becoming more significant, especially with modern cars as they have a lot of plastic so we get more injured animals.’

The collars have been specially designed with the animal’s comfort in mind. They are made of a stretchy, comfortable fabric to prevent chafing and are reflective on both sides in case the collar becomes twisted.

Furthermore, designers have sewn the collar together with a special stitching which will break easily if caught.

Dartmoor Forest Parish Councillor Mark Williams obtained a grant of over £6,000 from Vision Zero South West, which aims to eliminate all fatal and serious road accidents in Devon and Cornwall by 2040, to help set up the initiative.

Cllr Williams said: ‘Hopefully, the collars will really help drivers see the animals, especially in poor weather conditions.

‘Now we hope to do more work to encourage road safety including improved signage to let drivers know there may be livestock around.’

The grant money has also gone towards installing an additional Vehicle Activated Speed Sign (VAS) on the stretch of road below Leedon Tor and improving signage to remind drivers that they may encounter livestock on or near the road

The scheme follows a successful roll out of reflective collars to livestock in the New Forest which has greatly reduced the number of road traffic collisions involving livestock.