A new study has shown that Britain's worst drivers are in Halifax. The West Yorkshire town has the highest share of motorists with penalty points according to research by Vantage Leasing.

According to Department of Transport driving licence and postcode data revealed that of the 111,820 driving licence holders in and around Halifax, almost one in 10 (9.62 percent) have at least one point on their licence.

Halifax isn't the only northern town with a poor driving record though. In fact in another Yorkshire location, Bradford, 34,455 motorists were caught out for law-breaking on the roads – that represents 9.46 percent of motorists in the area.

Making it a top-three sweep for Yorkshire was Huddersfield, with 9.04 percent of drivers in the town racking up motoring offences.

DVLA heatmap points for worst drivers
DVLA heatmap points for worst drivers

On the flip-side, quite literally, Canterbury in Kent was found to be home to the UK's best drivers. Just 3.72 percent of motorists in the area have points on their licences.

Overall there are over 2.7 million (2,711,493) motorists in Britain with penalty points on their licence – 6.65 percent of all motorists in Britain. 

New research reveals where the UK's worst drivers are

Rather worryingly there are 11,021 motorists with 12 points or more. London has the most motorists with 12 or more points, with 969 offenders. Birmingham is second with 393, and Peterborough third.

In terms of points, the record is 60, which belongs to a 41-year old man in East Sussex. The worst female driver is a 25-year old who lives in Nottinghamshire, she has 48 points.

“Interestingly, the top three areas of with the highest number of points holders are very close to one another," said Advantage Leasing Managing Director, Rob Walker. "What is also worrying is that there are more than 11,000 drivers with 12 or more points on their licence, with some of them still potentially on the road."

Top 10 postcodes with the highest number of drivers with penalty points

Postcode

Number of Penalty Point Holders

Number of licenced drivers

Share of drivers with penalty points

Halifax (HX)

10,758

111,820

9.62%

Bradford (BD)

34,455

364,162

9.46%

Huddersfield (HD)

16,593

183,465

9.04%

Bristol (BS)

61,761

719,724

8.58%

Doncaster (DN)

44,786

524,470

8.54%

Wakefield (WF)

29,403

350,953

8.38%

Leeds (LS)

41,823

504,336

8.29%

Luton (LU)

20,137

247,286

8.14%

Slough (SL)

24,734

307,502

8.04%

Harrogate (HG)

8,785

109,682

8.01%

Top 10 postcodes with the highest number of drivers with 12 or more penalty points

Postcode

Drivers with 12 or more penalty points

London (includes London postcodes)

969

Birmingham (B)

393

Peterborough (PE)

265

Nottingham (NG)

264

Liverpool (L)

247

Leeds (LS)

231

Bradford (BD)

218

Manchester (M)

218

Doncaster (DN)

207

Cardiff (CF)

204