Sixteen-year-olds can start driving a year earlier than everyone else if they are claiming disability benefits, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

And those who receive Personal Independence Payments (PIP) can also get 40 hours of free driving lessons - which could cost up to £2,000 if they had to pay for them.

The number of 16-year-olds on PIP has trebled in five years, and campaigners warn the driving loophole for them could have important implications for road safety.

Teenage drivers, who make up 1.5 per cent of British motorists, are involved in 9 per cent of all fatal or serious collisions, according to British insurers.

To get a provisional licence early, 16-year-olds must be on the top level of PIP for 'mobility' issues - for which they receive about £80 a week. They also need to show that their condition affects their ability to get around and plan journeys.

But the eligibility rules are not limited to physical ailments - they include mental health issues such as anxiety, ADHD, depression or agoraphobia - the fear of open spaces. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, a 16-year-old qualifies if their mental health 'causes overwhelming psychological distress' which prevents them from completing a journey independently.

They can then drive on public roads, when accompanied by an adult, and take and pass a test so they get their full licence on their 17th birthday.

The revelation has generated a furious response from critics. Nicholas Lyes, director of policy at road safety charity IAM Road-Smart, highlighted that young drivers are already most likely to be in serious collisions. And Andrew Gilligan, transport expert and research fellow at the think-tank Policy Exchange, added: 'We shouldn't be sucking young people into a life on benefits with incentives like this.

'One of the criteria for getting enhanced PIP is that you cannot do basic things. So we might be putting road safety at risk too. It is genuinely stupid and wrong.'

It isn't just teenage welfare claimants who enjoy significant advantages on the road over those who work. People on benefits wanting to learn to drive can receive 40 hours of free lessons if they have a Motability car.

The taxpayer-funded £3 billion car lease scheme for welfare claimants accounts for one in five new car sales in Britain. Under the scheme, PIP claimants can swap a portion of their handouts for a new car.

The company, whose chief executive Andrew Miller is paid £800,000 a year, gives 40 hours of free lessons to those who buy a Motability car, hold a provisional licence and receive a means-tested benefit of any kind.

Helen Whately, the Conservative welfare spokeswoman, said: 'Motability was designed to support people with severe disabilities who would otherwise struggle to leave their homes. But over time, the criteria and assessment process have drifted far from their original purpose.'

The Department for Transport was approached for comment.