85,500 Out Of Date Driving Licence

15 January 2015, 07:27 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A Capital investigation's found more than 85,500 drivers in the East Midlands have out of date driving licences.

The DVLA say drivers can be fined £1,000 if they don't update their licence, which you're supposed to do every ten years.

In Derby, 10,000 people have an out of date licence, in Leicester the figure is 17,422 and Nottingham 23,348 need to be renewed*.

Confusion

Tim Shalllcross from The Institute of Advanced Motorists has told Capital it's not just something that confuses drivers but, at times, the police as well:

'There does seem to be quite a lot of confusion about how and when you have to renew these driving licences and a lot of it is a legacy to the days when we just had a paper driving licence and it was valid until or 70th birthday.

'There still quite a lot of murky water about this, for example, the police have been confused in the past.'

Licence Impersonation

The DVLA have told Capital it's important to update cards to prevent fraud, telling Capital:

'DVLA writes to every driver when their licence is due for renewal, providing instructions on how to renew and the penalty for not doing so.

'It is important they are kept up to date to ensure the details are correct, the photograph is a current likeness and that licences in circulation contain the latest security features to protect against fraud.'

Nottinghamshire Police told Capital:

'All we would say is we would advise anyone whose card has expired or whose card is expired to please renew. Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to £1,000.'

*Other figures from the East Midlands make up the total number of 85,000