PEOPLE hiring cars could face huge new year queues following the abolition of the paper part of the driving licence, the vehicle rental industry has warned.

The paper counterpart to the plastic licence lists endorsements and disqualifications, and is set to be scrapped from January 2015.

Those renting vehicles use the counterpart to check hirers' records. Now, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) fears alternative checking measures by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will not be introduced in time. BVLRA chief executive Gerry Kearney said: "We applaud the Government's attempts to reduce red tape and bureaucracy, but this piece of poorly-timed political pointscoring could cause chaos for our industry and its customers during this busy festive season."

A DVLA spokesman said: "As BVRLA is aware, timescales for implementation are under discussion, but we can confirm that no changes will come into effect over the busy festive season."