The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001

6.  The open ends of door handles which rotate parallel to the plane of the door shall be turned back towards the plane of the door. Such open ends shall be directed rearwards unless the handles cannot under any circumstances project beyond the extreme outer edge of the vehicle and at least one of the following requirements is met—

(a)the open end of the handle is shielded to the front by a protective surround, or

(b)the open end of the handle is recessed into the vehicle bodywork, or

(c)the gap measured laterally between the open end of the handle and the vehicle body is no more than 2 mm when the handle is in its normal position with the door latched.