MORE than 100 drivers in Dorset with enough points on their licence to trigger a ban are still on the roads.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) said it was concerning that drivers with 12 points or more were still allowed on the roads.

If a driver reaches this threshold they face a disqualification of at least six months, unless the court accepts that 'exceptional hardship', such as job loss, would be caused.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency data shows this applied to 25 drivers with a Bournemouth postcode in March.

It also applied to 22 drivers with an East Dorset postcode, 24 with a Poole postcode, eight with a Christchurch postcode and 22 with a Purbeck postcode.

And there were almost 11,000 such drivers across Great Britain – though this was a drop on the same point last year.

In Bournemouth, two drivers managed to rack up 16 points.

Nick Lloyd, Rospa’s head of road safety, said: “More concerning is that a proportion of these drivers, despite having accumulated 12 points or more on their licence, are still on our roads.

"Unfortunately, some drivers either intentionally or unintentionally drive above the speed limit, thereby placing themselves, their passengers and other road users in danger."

The DVLA figures show there are 126,334 drivers with full or provisional licences in Bournemouth, with a combined 38,364 points between them.

The Sentencing Council recently concluded a consultation on driving offences disqualifications, with revised guidelines set to be published later this year.

Chairman Lord Justice Holroyde said: “The Council is aware of public concern that offenders who have incurred 12 penalty points or more are not always disqualified from driving.

"There are legitimate reasons why this might happen: the law allows for such a disqualification to be avoided or reduced for reasons of exceptional hardship."

A Government spokesman said: “Speeding puts the lives of drivers and others at risk, putting needless pressure on our emergency services which should be focused on helping the nation battle Covid-19.

“The presence of a valid driving entitlement does not mean that all individuals are actively driving in the UK, and these statistics include cases where drivers have rightly been punished for the breaking the law, and have received court sentences including disqualification, supervision orders, community orders or imprisonment.”