Motorway speed limit could yet be increased to 80mph as minister reveals government division over the plan Policy was launched with fanfare in 2011 claiming it would boost economy But new Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it is 'not a priority' Polling suggests significant numbers of women were against the move Road safety minister Stephen Hammond reveals it is still being worked on Plans to increase the motorway speed limit to 80mph are still being developed, despite the government announcing it had shelved the idea. Ministers have admitted that many drivers already travel at 80mph and the policy will be revived in the future. The idea was officially abandoned in June because senior Tory figures feared it would alienate women voters. U-turn: Ministers announced the idea of increasing the speed limit to 80mph had been shelved, but now admit it is still being worked on The policy was launched with a fanfare in 2011 by then transport secretary Philip Hammond, who claimed the 70mph limit had been 'discredited' and a rise to 80mph would boost the economy. But he was replaced by Patrick McLoughlin who announced the policy was no longer a priority. This is not going to happen with Patrick McLoughlin as Transport Secretary," said a source. But divisions have emerged in the Department for Transport, with junior transport minister Stephen Hammond revealing the plan could be easily introduced because the Government has "not stopped work" on the idea. Split: Roads minister Stephen Hammond revealed divisions over the decision to drop the 80mph plan The road safety minister said: "Mr Hammond is a great supporter of 80 miles per hour. He thinks it's the right thing to do. That's not a universal view among my colleagues and at the moment, because there are a huge number of other things on, we have not stopped work on it but it's not a priority. Given that a lot of people travel at 80 miles per hour and we could enforce 80 miles per hour, at some stage we will want to come back and look at it. Britain's speed limits are lower than many other countries in Europe. France and Italy both impose a maximum of 81mph, while Germany has no restriction at all. The RAC expressed disappointment at the decision to drop the speed limit increase. Motoring groups had argued that 80mph is a safe speed in a modern car, providing drivers leave enough room between vehicles. But last year campaign groups estimated that raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph would cost society an extra £1billion a year, including £766million in fuel bills and more than £62million in health costs. The groups, which include road safety charity Brake, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) and Greenpeace, also estimated that the higher limit would lead to 25 extra deaths and 100 serious injuries a year, as well as 2.2 million more tonnes of carbon emissions.