The proportion of female professional drivers across the UK appears set to rise in the years ahead, with more younger women interested in entering the profession.

This is the conclusion of new research from the Freight Transport Association (FTA), which showed that the gender balance within the UK professional driving sector is set to improve in the coming years, as 15 per cent of women aged from 21 to 25 would consider driving for a living.

FTA skills policy development manager Sally Gilson commented: "These figures are encouraging as it is essential that more women are recruited – currently only one per cent of HGV drivers in the UK are female."

She added that one of the biggest hindrances to more females entering the profession in recent years is believed to have been the prohibitive costs associated with attaining a professional licence – around £3,000.

As a result, Ms Gilson argued the FTA is calling on the government to address issues with the current Personal Career Development Loan system, which fails to fully cover these costs and leaves many would-be professionals out of pocket and unable to complete their training.

"A simple change to allow Level 2 qualifications to be included within the 19+ loan would provide the quickest and best solution," she concluded.

Currently, around 2,200 of the 315,000 registered truck drivers in the UK are female, but more young women are expected to join the profession in the years ahead.

This is of particular importance to the economy as a whole, with the average age of a UK truck driver now 45 and up to one-third of the present workforce believed to be weighing up retirement plans within the next ten years.