More than half a million drivers have waited more than 10 weeks to receive their new driving licenses after applying for renewal by post, figures have shown.

People are facing loss of employment and have been unable to travel abroad to events including family funerals due to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency backlog of paper applications, MPs have claimed as they demand action.

Despite drivers being warned that applications may take up to 10 weeks, as of the start of September, 517,881 drivers had waited longer than 10 weeks for approval, the

The data, obtained via a Freedom of Information request by the newspaper, also showed that there were 185,385 outstanding applications requiring a medical decision which were more than 10 weeks old.