Foreign motorists who try to circumvent driving licence laws by using their old licence issued in their original home country have seen another loophole closed.

An Austrian motorist living in Germany attempted to drive on his old Austrian licence after his German permit was taken away following a drink-drive conviction.

However, the case was taken to the European Court of Justice where the advocate general Yves Bot ruled in favour of the German licence authority.

He ruled that driving licence authorities can refuse to recognise a pre-existing second foreign EU licence if the driver had a licence issued by that authority withdrawn by the courts.

However, without a conviction for a crime where a driver would be disqualified, EU law still allows for both licences to be valid simultaneously.