Growing concern among drivers, who say they struggle to drive at night due to the dazzle from oncoming lights, is prompting the government to take a closer look at the design of cars and headlamps on UK roads, the BBC understands.

Research into the issue on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT), conducted last winter, has still not been published.

However, the government now plans to launch a new assessment of the causes and remedies, the BBC has learned.

New measures will be included in the government's upcoming Road Safety Strategy, reflecting what is becoming an increasingly fraught issue for road users.

Both Ruth Goldsworthy and Sally Burt say bright headlamps makes it harder for them to get to their weekly SO Sound choir meetings in Totton, in Hampshire.

"Some of the lights are so bright you are blinded by them, for seconds," says Ruth.

Drivers say it is LED headlamps, increasingly common in new vehicles, that are causing them problems. The beam is whiter, more focused and brighter than the more diffuse light from halogen lamps fitted in older cars.

"I'm not sure where to look, I look into the gutter," says Sally. They are both relieved if someone else offers to drive.

Evening driving becomes a bigger problem as the winter evenings draw in, and especially after the clocks change, which means more people are driving home after dark.

The problem is worse for older people, whose eyes take around nine seconds to recover from glare, compared to one second for a 16-year-old, according to road safety consultant Rob Heard.

"In severe cases, we might need to stop until our sight can recuperate," he said.

A new survey from the motoring organisation, the RAC, has found that more than a third of drivers are nervous about getting behind the wheel as the evenings get darker.

Three-quarters of respondents said driving was getting more difficult due to brighter lights.

The RAC's senior policy officer, Rod Dennis, said so far little progress has been made on tackling glare, with regulations governing headlights dating back to 1989.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We know headlight glare is frustrating for many drivers, especially as the evenings get darker."