Police are targeting unisured drivers after motorists in Derbyshire forked out £15 million to cover the cost of their accidents in 2006.

The Motor Insurance Bureau says it covered the cost of 19,674 crashes caused by cars without insurance two years ago.

This sum - £15,477,000 - was added on to the premiums of Derbyshire’s half a million legal drivers and cost them £30 each.

“Fifteen million pounds is an incredible figure and clamping down on uninsured drivers is a priority for us,” said Sergeant Andy Carmichael of Derbyshire’s road policing unit.

“If there are around 20,000 uninsured drivers on the roads, the figures show that we are stopping around 25 per cent of them, which is not a bad statistic,” he added. “Resources are limited and we can only catch vehicles that are out there on the roads. I’m confident that, with time, we will see a reduction in the numbers.”

The Motor Insurance Bureau is still collating figures for last year, but says it expects figures to be as high or even worse.