The German transport minister has clashed with environmentalists after he dismissed calls for a speed limit on the country’s motorways as “against all common sense”.

Andreas Scheuer’s comments came after a government commission set up by his own ministry recommended a national speed limit of 130kmh (81mph) on German autobahns and higher fuel taxes to limit harmful pollution.

Mr Scheuer described the proposals as “completely exaggerated, unrealistic mind games”.

“We want to inspire and inspire citizens withe the opportunities of future mobility. Demands that provoke anger, annoyance and stress or endanger our prosperity, will not become reality and I reject them,” said the minister, who is a member of Angela Merkel's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Germany is one of the last countries in the world not to impose a national speed limit. Just over half of the country’s 8,000 miles of motorway remain unrestricted, and it is not uncommon to encounter cars driving at speeds in excess of 150mph.

Unrestricted motorways have become something of a national symbol in the country that invented the car, and attempts to impose a limit are as fiercely resisted by certain sections of German society as gun control is in the US.