The survey, carried out by Britannia Rescue, the breakdown service, estimated that as many as 850,000 motorists could be driving with tyres under the legal tread limit whilst 768,000 could be driving with broken lights and over 650,000 have brake problems.

The figures suggested that one in six motorists were driving a car which had a defect. The most common faults were found to be worn tyres, defective brakes and faulty exhaust pipes.

Britannia Rescue general manager Simon Stevens said: ''It's concerning that so many motorists currently drive dangerous vehicles in need of repair. Some repairs may appear to be minor but they could still turn a car into a death-trap that endangers the driver, passengers and other motorists.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7262169/More-than-5m-motorists-driving-unsafe-vehicles.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252150/The-5m-death-trap-cars-Britains-roads.html