'Bragging' motorist caught after driving with no licence for 50 years

A motorist who was stopped by police had been driving without a licence for 50 years.

Officers were stunned when they pulled over the 69-year-old in Derbyshire and found out he had driven five decades without a licence.

Derbyshire Police said on Saturday that the man had never passed a driving test, even though he had been behind the wheel since he was a teenager.

The force said he was finally caught out after so long because of his "bragging".

It said he had hoodwinked insurance companies throughout that time by falsely claiming he had a driving licence.

The man's car was seized by police and he was reported for a number of driving offences.

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Derbyshire Road Policing Unit tweeted an image of the man's car on Saturday.

It said: "The driver of this vehicle has never passed a test despite being 69 years old and having been driving for over 50 years.

"He has systematically provided details to insurance companies indicating that he had a licence but the flaw in his dastardly plan was bragging.

"His long reign came to an abrupt end once we found out. Vehicle seized and driver reported for numerous offences."

Officers seized the pensioner's car in a Derby retail park.

Paul Farley, from the Motor Insurers' Bureau, tweeted: "Finally, brought a totally unacceptable reign to an end."

One Twitter user commented: "It's not a good look for the system he's managed to carry out his entire life without being caught before."

In January 2022, police stopped a driver in Nottingham who had been driving without a licence or insurance for more than 70 years. The man, who was born in 1938, told officers he had been driving without a licence since he was 12 years old and had never previously been stopped by police.

Driving licences: the facts

• Anyone caught driving without a licence faces a fine of up to £1,000 and between three and six penalty points.

• Figures obtained last year by the RAC from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) showed there were more than 105,000 uninsured drivers recorded in 2020. The figures showed there were 15,933 people who had neither insurance nor a licence.

• A report published earlier this year by MPs revealed that three million people have experienced driving licence delays since April 2020, costing people their jobs, income and independence.

• The number of driving licences registered with the DVLA last April was 50,501,813. Of these, 41,202,187 were full and 9,299,626 were provisional.

• One in 25 driving licence holders in Britain is aged 80 or above, equating to 1.6 million people.

• The DVLA says the most common reason for failing a driving test is not looking properly at a junction.

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