Motorist with 62 licence points still allowed to drive

A man with 62 penalty points on his licence is among thousands of motorists still allowed to drive despite exceeding the limit warranting a ban.

The speeding man, from West Yorkshire, is one of 10,000 drivers who were legally on Britain's roads last month, despite having more than 12 points, according to an investigation.

Commonly drivers who clock up 12 penalty points must attend court and face a six-month ban.

Magistrates, however, can opt against the ban if the offender proves that losing their licence will cause "exceptional hardship".

Some 203 people were still driving despite accumulating more than 18 points, while Greater London was the worst offending area with 1,385 motorists qualifying for a ban, Freedom of Information requests by the BBC revealed.

David Nichols, from road safety charity Brake, told the BBC: "The penalty points system is supposed to be in place to protect the public from dangerous repeat offenders and it's appalling that these risky repeat offenders are allowed to keep driving."

Common reasons for so many points to be amassed include a failure to inform the DVLA of an address change, followed by speeding offences.

The loss of a job is not enough to pass the "exceptional hardship" test but magistrates may decide not to ban an offender if it would cause bankruptcy or the default of a mortgage, legal experts say.

It is not known why the West Yorkshire man was allowed to continue driving.