DRIVERS in East Lancashire will not be able to use the legal loophole used by Blackburn Rovers star Dwight Yorke to overturn a speeding conviction, a road safety group warned today.

The Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety warned drivers that they could face penalty points, a fine and disqualification if they failed to fill in the documentation required after their car was snapped by a speed camera.

Striker Yorke was originally ordered by Manchester Magistrates to pay £1,350 after his Porsche 911 was caught by a speed camera doing 61mph in a 40 zone in Princess Road, Withington, in May 2001.

A High Court judge overturned the conviction because he had not signed the form sent to him after the incident to ask his details, known as a 172 form under the Road Traffic Act 1988.

But the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety said if Yorke had been caught in Lancashire, he would have been prosecuted for failing to fill in the form properly.

Ian Bell, project manager for the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, said: "We have not yet received detailed information about the case.

"However it would appear to relate to the signature on the notice relevant to the offence.

"The case as outlined concerning Mr Yorke would not have occurred in Lancashire.

"Any person who fails to sign the section 172 notice would be prosecuted for failing to comply with the section 172 request."

The current maximum penalty for failing to complete the form is a £1,000 fine and three penalty points. A Government report last month recommended this be increased to six.

The courts also have discretionary power to ban the driver.