A whopping 2,416 people faced a ‘Refusal to MOT’ during the past 12 months because their vehicles have been so dirty and non-accessible, new research shows.

The study, which was conducted by scrapcarcomparison.co.uk, suggested that hygiene of some vehicles has been so poor that drivers have even risked their own health by growing mould on the interior and windows.

Garage Owner, Mike Bradbury said: “There was one car last month that when opening the door the footwell was covered in fast food brown bags and milkshake cartons.

“These can easily get caught behind any of the peddles preventing the car from being safe on the roads.

“Our MOT inspector refused to even put the car through its MOT due to the mess and smell caused by the heat.

“It’s incredible how some people live their lives.”

“Poor hygiene is a common factor”

A spokesperson for scrapcarcomparison.co.uk, said: “It’s amazing how many drivers fail before they even set foot in the testing centres.

“Dirty number plates, warning lights these can easily be given attention and many of the problems are basic maintenance.

“Poor car hygiene is a common factor and can also lead to health issues.”

Common failures noted during the study included tyre tread depth falling below the 1.6mm limit, worn out brake pads falling to less than 1.5mm thickness and poorly aimed headlamps.

A large proportion of failures also included registration plate issues such as dirty number plates, wrong coloured plates or illegal fonts.

Amazingly 126 people put their car in for an MOT with a missing registration plate.

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