Leatherhead has been named as the third worst speeding hotspot in the country.

More than one in five motorists in the town has a conviction for driving too fast in the last five years, according to insurers Admiral.

Its research showed the average in the UK was 14 per cent. Drivers living in parts of Surrey, Hertfordshire and Dorset were the most likely to have points on their licence.

Leatherhead came in third with 23.1 per cent of its motorists with a speeding conviction. Radlett, in Hertfordshire, was top with 25.7 per cent, followed by Sandbanks, in Poole, Dorset, with 24.2 per cent.

Sue Longthorn, managing director of Admiral, said: “Our statistics show a worrying trend that people see a speed limit as simply a guide rather than a speed that’s appropriate for that road. It’s a wonder that the national average for speeding convictions isn’t higher given this fact.

“If we look at these statistics in the years to come, it’ll be interesting to see if speeding convictions come down in the areas where speed cameras are being switched off.”

Leatherhead North Councillor Bridget Lewis-Carr said: “Everybody around Leatherhead drives so fast - they are in such a rush.”

However, Leatherhead South Councillor David Sharland disagreed, saying he was “very dubious” of the figures and he did not believe the town has a speeding problem.

He said: “Road safety in Leatherhead, I feel, is pretty good and I’m rather surprised they can produce figures like that. I was not aware that it was any higher than anywhere else.

“Some roads are obviously faster than others, but if you go into the back roads of Leatherhead, there’s usually so much parking on them it’s difficult to get along them at 30mph.”

The survey found that 87 per cent of motorists admit to speeding, and 69 per cent think the limit on the motorway should be 80mph or more.

Drivers in St Ives, Cornwall, were the most safety conscious, with just 5.5 per cent having a conviction.

Ms Longthorn said: “We wanted to see if there was a pattern between where people live and the frequency of speeding convictions, and to see an area where over a quarter of drivers have a conviction is a real surprise.

“This is even more astonishing when you consider that someone living in the area with the lowest percentage is four times less likely to have a conviction than the top one.”