Drivers in Kingston with enough points to be banned, but still legally behind the wheel, are putting children at risk, according to a safety activist.

Road safety campaigners are furious that 21 drivers in the borough have 12 points or more on their license, but have been allowed to stay on the road by the courts.

One Kingston motorist is still driving with 17 points despite twice being caught without insurance and failing to stop at a traffic light, according to the figures obtained by the Surrey Comet through an FoI request.

Another motorist on 14 points has escaped a ban despite exceeding the speed limit four times in six months.

Kingston road safety campaigner Anne Marie Hamzeh said: “We have more junior school children in Kingston than in any other part of Surrey and this just makes an already dangerous situation even more hazardous.

“An automatic ban is imposed when someone hits 12 penalty points but the courts can make exemptions in cases where a ban would cause extreme hardship to dependants of the driver.”

A spokesman for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) admitted that in some cases defendants were let off because magistrates were not aware of previous convictions.

He said: “In a small minority of the cases reviewed, the sentencing court was not aware of the previous convictions of the defendant.

“Consequently a number of process improvements have already been put in place to ensure that, for cases where drivers over 12 points are not disqualified, both HMCTS and DVLA are aware and can investigate these cases, if necessary.”