Almost a million motorists forced to replace driving licences last year - how to make sure it doesn't happen to you

Eight in 10 drivers carry their licences with them every day - but it might not be a safe idea

Almost one million UK driving licences were reported lost, damaged or stolen last year, the DVLA has revealed, to the tune of £19 million.

That's £20 each - and now the driving agency has issued a warning to motorists to avoid travelling with them.

It comes after a survey found the majority of cards were lost on the go - statistically, 80% of drivers carry their licences with them every day.

Official records released this week showed that a total of 931,527 applications for replacement driving licences were made between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018.According to the most recent DVLA stats, there are around 37.5 million active licence holders in the UK.

That means around 3% of all drivers in the country either lost or snapped theirs last year.

When asked by the DVLA for reasons why so many replacements occurred, eight in 10 drivers said that they carry their licences with them.Younger drivers are more likely to choose to carry their licence with them compared to older motorists who tend to keep their cards somewhere safe at home.

This is the age group most likely to use their licences for ID - with many older generations owning paper-only of photo-less versions.

Given these figures, it's unsurprising that over 80% of 16 to 24 year olds applied for the most replacements in 2017.Dudley Ashford, drivers service manager at DVLA, said drivers shouldn't feel the need to carry their licences with them as it's not a legal requirement, and suggested that motorists keep them filed someone safe instead of putting them in their wallets."While you don’t legally have to carry your licence with you when driving, you need to have a licence in case you need to prove you can drive," he said.

"So we’d recommend keeping your licence safe and secure at all times – perhaps storing it in one safe place along with other important documents.

"Hopefully you won’t have to replace your licence but if you are going to carry it around with you and you then lose it, it’s always quicker to apply for a new one online."