A YORK doctor has claimed road signs depicting pensioners and disabled people are offensive.

Dr Richard Gale, a specialist registrar in ophthalmology at York District Hospital, has co-written the article in the British Medical Journal criticising the signs.

The article says the road signs, which show a man with a walking stick and a woman hunched over, suggest all disabled and elderly people have such problems.

It says: "The sign implies that osteopaenic vertebral collapse and the need for mobility aids are to be expected with physical disability as well as with advancing age." The article, from a study conducted by three other doctors, calls for changes to be made to the signs, which were originally introduced in 1981 following a children's competition.

It praises a sign from Namibia, which is a picture of a generic figure with the words "elderly people" underneath - although it also suggests motorists may not be able to spot it as easily.

The article says: "People should not be stigmatised on road traffic signs. But signs must be clear and easily recognisable.

"Perhaps an international agreement on the content and style of such road signs is needed to meet these criteria."

The study looked at similar signs for both the disabled and elderly in more than 170 other countries.

Other signs used included a pair of John Lennon-type glasses which were used in many countries to depict blind people, which was easily recognisable.

Many of the signs used to depict the disabled were pictures of people in wheelchairs and although not all disabled people used wheelchairs, the study said this was easily recognisable.

The study found that Britain was the only country to use the same sign for disabled and the elderly.

Updated: 10:33 Friday, December 19, 2003