THE likelihood of company car drivers illegally using a hand-held mobile phone behind the wheel depends on how many business miles they cover.

A total of 14% of low-mileage drivers admit to flouting the law while for high-mileage drivers the figure increases to 24%.

The correlation is revealed by fleet management company Arval, which claims its research shows that a quarter of all company car drivers have broken the law by using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

It also found that drivers in larger companies were less likely to illegally use their phones, possibly because such companies have a clear policy on mobile phone use.

Head of market analysis Mike Waters said: ‘There still appears to be a hardcore of drivers who seem willing to break the law when using mobile phones. When use of hand-held phones when driving becomes an endorsable offence, many drivers could find themselves with penalty points, possibly leading to driving bans.’