The alarming ease with which young motorists in the Bradford district are able to get their hands on fast and powerful cars is nothing short of a disgrace.

Today, we are reporting on the case of an 18-year-old banned driver who slammed an Audi A5 hire car into a wall during a high-speed police chase.

Bradford's top judge, Roger Thomas QC, has quite rightly questioned how a young man who had just been disqualified from driving could be allowed to hire a vehicle of that size and power.

From the incidents reported in these pages since the Telegraph & Argus started its Stop the Danger Drivers campaign, it is abundantly clear that such vehicles are falling into the wrong hands too easily and with frightening regularity.

Fast cars are not dangerous in their own right. Many are driven on the district's roads every day without incident. Nor is it fair to brand all teenage motorists inept or risky. The majority are responsible and law-abiding.

However, it must be said that the combination of a fast car and a high-spirited teenage motorist significantly increase the risk of carnage.

Once again, we find ourselves writing about a driver who seemingly lacks the skill, judgement and maturity to control a car of such power.

This issue is clearly a major part of Bradford's dangerous driving problem.

Judge Thomas perfectly reflects the thoughts of many people in this district when he speaks of the public concern over what he called ' young men who race around in powerful, attractive, flashy vehicles.'

If hire car companies are letting these vehicles out without the proper checks and controls, then action needs to be taken to bring them into line and save young lives.