There are almost 30,000 drivers with penalty points on their licences in just 27 Gloucestershire postcodes.

New analysis of data has revealed which areas of the county are home to the most motorists with points against their name.

It shows that GL12, which covers Wotton-Under-Edge and the surrounding villages, has the highest ratio of offenders, with 1,087 of the 11,755 registered drivers there having penalties - a 9.2 per cent rate.

The neighbouring GL9 postcode has the same rate, with 202 of the 2,205 drivers there having their licences endorsed.

The area with the most offenders is also the area with the most drivers - GL2, which covers much of the southern and western areas of Gloucester and nearby, has 3,156 penalised drivers, 7.5 per cent of the 41,909 registered there.

The figures are based on the latest data from the DVLA. It doesn't include areas with a ratio of less than five per cent, which puts 27 Gloucestershire postcodes in the picture.

Postcode Number of drivers Drivers with penalty points Ratio
GL12 11755 1087 9.2%
GL9 2205 202 9.2%
GL13 4761 434 9.1%
GL19 7277 624 8.6%
GL1 18810 1582 8.4%
GL56 7408 562 7.6%
GL2 41909 3156 7.5%
GL55 4589 344 7.5%
GL18 6374 474 7.4%
GL14 10830 767 7.1%
GL20 21266 1496 7.0%
GL4 32515 2137 6.6%
GL54 19286 1282 6.6%
GL15 15989 1035 6.5%
GL50 13865 893 6.4%
GL17 8957 564 6.3%
GL11 13949 859 6.2%
GL52 32621 1962 6.0%
GL10 10513 622 5.9%
GL16 10278 589 5.7%
GL3 23556 1340 5.7%
GL51 33948 1938 5.7%
GL53 15238 873 5.7%
GL8 6769 377 5.6%
GL5 22279 1223 5.5%
GL6 19860 1046 5.3%
GL7 34010 1705 5.0%

The worst area in the country is Cleveland in North Yorkshire, where 13.6 per cent of drivers have penalty points. There are two Bristol postcodes in the top 10 nationally, BS13 which covers Bedminster among others, and BS40 covering Chew Valley and part of the Mendips.

More than 2.6 million motorists in the UK have penalty points on their licences.

Penalty points are costing UK drivers over £132 million a year in higher insurance premiums, and last year 1.45 million UK motorists took part in retraining courses after committing driving offences to avoid accumulating points and a fine.

While the postcode district TS2 in Cleveland is the worst area for percentage of drivers with points, two postcodes in Bradford appear in the top five worst cities, meaning Bradford is the worst city for drivers with the most points.