NEARLY 5,000 drivers from TA postcode areas in Somerset have received fixed penalties for motoring offences, new figures show.

Road safety charity Brake released a breakdown of penalties handed out last year by postal area to launch last week’s Road Safety Week.

In the TA20 postcode, which includes Chard, Tatworth, Combe St Nicholas and several other villages, there were four notices for careless driving and 280 for speeding.

In TA19, which includes Ilminster, Ilton, Barrington and other villages, there was one notice for careless driving and 261 for speeding.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: “When drivers use roads without care for others the consequences can be tragic and horrific – people killed and badly injured, lives ruined forever, because of a moment of impatience or selfishness.”

The postcode with the greatest number of offences was TA6, which includes Bridgwater and North Petherton – it had 14 fixed penalties for careless driving and 660 for speeding.

Across the South-West, 74,338 fixed penalty notices were issued for speeding and 1,083 for careless driving, which became a fixed penalty offence in August, 2013.

The figures from Brake relate to the home address of the offender, not the location where the offence occurred.

The list does not give a breakdown of the number of people living in each of the postcode areas.