DRIVERS with more than 12 points on their licence “should not be allowed on the roads”, Southend councillors claim.

St Laurence Labour councillor Daniel Cowan and deputy leader Mark Flewitt spoke as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency revealed 83 drivers in Southend had 12 points or more on their licence in the latest recorded data.

If a driver reaches the 12-point threshold, they face a disqualification of at least six months, unless the court accepts that “exceptional hardship”, such as job loss, would be caused.

In Southend, six drivers had at least 20 points in March, with one managing to rack up 31.

Mark Flewitt said: "Speeding is always potential accidents waiting to happen, which magnifies the issue.

"Whoever the drivers are really need to go on voluntary courses.

"They risk custodial sentences if they carry on like they are and carry a risk of being disqualified for a year or two years. They have got to slow down.

"They need to take action before others and involved third parties."

Daniel Cowan said: “Dangerous driving and speeding is an issue I deal with on a day to day basis.

“In St Laurence ward we have some of the worst roads for speeding in Southend.

“I’m not saying the accidents are linked to people with these points, but it does show there are a lot of drivers out there who are endangering other people and themselves by continuing to be allowed to drive.”

He added: “To get over 12 points is pretty dangerous. I would not want to see any driver on the roads with more than 12 points.”

The DVLA figures show there are 120,655 drivers with full or provisional licences in Southend, with a combined 39,817 points between them.

Road safety charity Brake said the law should be used to its fullest extent when dealing with “selfish” speeders.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns, said: “There is no justification for travelling over the speed limit, especially as people should still be minimising their journeys in lockdown.

“It is extremely important that all drivers recognise that speed limits exist to help save lives and that any crash adds a burden to our stretched emergency services and NHS.

“The law allows for such a disqualification to be avoided or reduced for reasons of exceptional hardship.”

A Government spokesman said: “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.”