Revealed: 'Dangerous drivers' still on Shropshire roads despite maximum penalty points

Analysis of DVLA data today reveals that 117 drivers in the county – 84 in Shropshire and 33 in Telford & Wrekin – have managed to dodge a ban after being given 12 or more penalty points on their licence, the usual threshold for losing a licence.

In Powys 61 drivers have avoided the ban.

Road safety charity Brake has criticised the current system, which it says is allowing repeat offenders to exploit loopholes in the law.

Currently, if a driver can convince a magistrate that they, or an innocent party such as a family member, will face exceptional hardship as a result of losing their licence they may be permitted to keep it.

In Shropshire the highest number of points received by one driver who is still allowed to drive is 25. In Telford & Wrekin the figure is 24 and in Powys it is 21.

The data is recorded by postcode district, so some drivers could live just across the border in neighbouring local authority areas.

The country’s worst serial offender is a 44-year-old man from Wolverhampton or the wider south Staffordshire area, with 54 points.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, said: “By ignoring the exploitation of the ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole that allows unsafe drivers to remain on our roads, the Government and courts are complicit in increasing the risk to the public.

"This dangerous loophole must be dealt with as a matter of urgency so that drivers who reach 12 points are automatically disqualified.”

The charity is calling for the loophole to be closed as part of its Roads to Justice campaign, which says an urgent review should be carried out.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The vast majority of drivers who get 12 penalty points are automatically disqualified.

"The courts have access to DVLA records which are taken into account, but sentencing is rightly a matter for independent judges based on the facts of each case.”