MORE than 5,000 red light offences were committed by Essex drivers last year, according to a new study from a renowned price comparison website.

GoCompare gathered data from police constabularies across the UK in a bid to find out which of the country’s regions are guilty of regularly driving through red lights.

Across 18 police constabularies, more than 61,000 vehicles were captured ploughing through a red traffic light and Essex ended with the fifth-highest number of offences, ahead of Greater Manchester and Hertfordshire.

The data found that UK drivers were fined in excess of £3million as a result of being penalised for running a red light.

The investigation also collated information detailing which roads are most likely to catch drivers committing an offence and even what car brand is most often being driven when the law is broken.

Police figures showed that in 2018, three of the most prestigious auto-mobile manufacturers were the choice of cars for most offenders, after a combined total of 7,000 red lights were whizzed through by drivers operating either a Ford, Vauxhall or Volkswagen.

Those behind the wheel of either a Renault or Nissan, however, only committed a total of 16 offences.

For more information visit: www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/red-light-runners/