One million motorists are driving without insurance, tax or a driving licence, revealed figures published by the Department for Transport.
Compared with the 32 million legal drivers on Britain's roads, unlicensed drivers are nine times more likely to have an accident and are involved in about 7,000 injury crashes every year, although they only account for 1% of total hours driven, said the report.
At the same time as releasing these figures, the government announced the introduction of roadside cameras to scan number plates, known as the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System.
The Department for Transport said the system would enable the police to target unlicensed vehicles on the road. Twenty-three police forces are now involved in an extended trial of using the recognition system, which in initial trials resulted in a ten-fold increase in the detection of crime.
