Defective tyres are accounting a greater proportion of total penalty points received by drivers for the poor condition of their cars, new Kwik Fit research finds.

The majority of tyre offences were for insufficient tread, while 3% of the cases were for under or over inflated tyres

Data collated from British police forces regarding penalty points for vehicle defects over the past three years shows 50% were awarded for tyre issues in 2015 – up from 40% in 2013.

The overwhelming majority of tyre offences were having insufficient tread, with 65% of cases categorised as being below the legal minimum of 1.6mm. A further 2% were stated as being below 1mm, and even more worryingly were the 26% who were found by the Kwik Fit analysis to have tyres with the ply or cord exposed. 3% of the cases were for tyres which were under or over inflated, while 2% of offences were for having a tyre with a lump, bulge or tear.

Roger Griggs, communications director at Kwik Fit, says: ““There is absolutely no excuse for a tyre being worn down so far that its ply or cord is exposed – it will have gone past the legal minimum way before that point. If drivers are trying to save money on their motoring, then risking penalty points, a fine and higher insurance premiums by not replacing their tyres is not the best way to go about it.”