A Flintshire councillor has expressed his concerns over the number of road offences occurring without punishment.

Councillor Arnold Woolley, who leads the Buckley Community Speed Watch team which also covers some parts of Argoed, Mold and Mynydd Isa, voiced concerns about the rising number of offences.

Figures from the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme seen by the PA news agency show 1.5 million people completed a course in 2021 as an alternative to a fine and possible penalty points.

That is up from 1.3 million during the previous year and represents the highest annual total in records dating back to 2014.

Some 86% of last year’s attendees went on speed awareness courses, which aim to help people identify speed limits and recognise the potential consequences of driving too fast.

Councillor Woolley questioned whether retraining courses were having the desired affect if speeding offences continued to occur.

He said: "The issue is, nobody wishes to criminalise the majority of the population and the majority of the population speed.

"What we're seeing is anti-social behaviour and selfishness which will go on and on. I'm all for people taking the courses, but I fear they are not actually having an impact. Is it showing that figures are coming down, are we seeing less speeding - no.

"People need to be done formally and stop getting away with excuses like 'I'm in a hurry'".

Teresa Ciano, GoSafe Partnership Manager and Chair of Road Safety Wales said: “The purpose of dealing with certain traffic offences by providing an educational input rather than prosecution, is to hopefully change the behaviour of those drivers and riders who are putting themselves and others at risk.

"A simple lapse of concentration when using the road could result in devastating consequences and unfortunately our emergency services across Wales see first-hand the effect this has on people.

“Some people attending an educational course may not have received any further feedback since passing their driving test and they often find the session very informative.

"By educating people on the importance of riding and driving safely at all times, it could help them avoid similar offences being committed in the future and contribute to reducing casualties on our roads. However, please rest assured that deliberate, high-risk offenders will continue to be targeted and they will be prosecuted.”