The first motorists to be issued with photocard driving licences ten years ago have been warned that they need to apply for an updated licence or risk a £1,000 fine.

However, contrary to misleading reports, the licence will still be valid even if the photo is out of date.

Hundreds of thousands of renewal notices will be sent out by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) over the coming weeks as the first photocards, which were issued from July 1998, become out of date.

While the driving licences will still be valid, failure to send the photo licence, the paper counterpart and a new photo, along with a £17.50 fee, will leave the driver open to prosecution.

“Drivers are required by law to ensure their photocard driving licence is updated every ten years,” warned a DVLA spokesman.

“This is to ensure that the photograph is of true likeness. A fine of £1,000 may be imposed on failure to surrender a licence.”

However, he stressed that although the photograph may be out of date, the licence holder is still entitled to drive.

This means, contrary to many reports, motorists will be able to continue to drive legally even if they fail to update their photocard.

UK licences are valid under most circumstances until the driver reaches 70 years of age.

It will come as a surprise to many that they must renew their licence.

But it will also annoy many that they have to pay £17.50.

This means the DVLA will take in £437.5 million in rolling fees every decade as the UK’s 25 million licence holders begin the process of updating their photos.

Over the next 12 months, £5.2 million will be paid out in fees, which are used just to cover costs says the DVLA.

“Subject to public consultation and agreement by Parliament, fees are balanced across all transactions to meet operating costs.”

Fleets carrying out regular licence checks have been assured that these will highlight that a photocard is coming up for renewal.

“This will be clear both from the licence and any check of the record,” said the spokesman.

The licences were introduced to comply with an EC Directive, which required that a photograph of the driver be included on all UK driving licences from July 2001.

The DVLA acted quickly in this respect and by March 2000, it had stopped issuing paper licences altogether.