A Thousand motorists have been caught driving without insurance in Swansea during the last year. Swansea magistrates imposed fines on 990 people between January 1 and November 29, 2003, and others were penalised but not fined by the courts, new figures show.

Roads safety officer Sergeant Nigel Whitehouse said it was a problem across South West Wales.

He said: "It's a large number and a worrying number when you consider that third parties involved in incidents with uninsured drivers have no claim back on that person.

"These are danger drivers. The likelihood is that these people will also have no tax or MoT and in a high proportion of cases I would assume that the person doesn't even have a driving licence."

He said police tackled the issue on a daily basis by checking insurance details of drivers involved in accidents and those stopped routinely. But future developments could also help to cut this number,

"There is development ongoing between the police, Government and insurance companies," said Sergeant Whitehouse.

"There's a database being established, which is coming on line slowly, called Automatic Number Plate Recognition."

Officers will be able to electronically detect from the number plate whether the driver who has registered the car is insured and if the car has tax and an MoT. But this scheme is in the early stages.

John Evans, secretary of the Swansea Branch of the Institute of Advanced drivers said the number of motorists driving without insurance was frightening.

"It's a very large number and you have to remember that they don't catch everyone," he said. "If you are involved in an accident with an uninsured driver you have to pay for everything. They pay for nothing and get away scot-free."

He said it was a difficult problem to solve but a tougher stance was needed.

"Apart from fining and confiscating their cars I don't see what else you can do," said Mr Evans.

Clerk to the Swansea Justices Justin Barron highlighted the penalties that await those convicted of driving without insurance.

"The maximum penalty is a level five fine which is the equivalent to a £5,000 fine," he said. "There's no mandatory disqual- ification but, normally, the policy of magistrates in South Wales will be to disqualify the driver for two months.

"There were 990 over this period that resulted in a fine but there were more than that in the system. Approximately 1,000 ended up in a penalty."