DRIVERS responsible for the most serious speeding offences will face harsher penalties under new sentencing guidelines.

The move by the Sentencing Council means motorists caught well above the speed limit will be fined at least 150 per cent of their weekly income rather than the existing level of 100 per cent.

It comes as a woman whose mother was killed by a drink-driver in Sutton Courtenay in 2015 backed the Oxford Mail's Drive for Justice campaign, calling for tougher sentences for killer drivers.

Malcolm Richardson, national chairman of the Magistrates' Association, said: "Anyone who breaks the limit excessively is a danger to every other road user and is unnecessarily putting lives at risk.

"Hopefully, hitting these offenders harder in the pocket will make them think twice before doing it again in the future.

"While greater sentences for excessive speeders are obviously a deterrent, the best deterrent of all is more effective enforcement."

Justice minister Sam Gyimah said: "Speeding can have tragic consequences, so there must be strong penalties in place to deter drivers from behaving recklessly.

"These new guidelines will help make sure sentences properly reflect the seriousness of the crime."

Someone sentenced for driving, for example, at 101mph or faster in a 70mph zone will now be dealt with in the more severe bracket.

The Sentencing Council said the move aims to ensure there is a "clear increase in penalty as the seriousness of offending increases".

Speeding is one of a number of areas covered in new sentencing guidelines for magistrates' courts in England and Wales being published today.

Elsewhere in the guidance, conditional discharges will be included as a sentencing option in low-level cases of TV licence payment evasion.

Tens of thousands are prosecuted each year for dodging the £145.50 licence fee, with the majority handed a fine.

The guidelines set out possible factors which could reduce the seriousness of TV licence evasion, including where the culprit was experiencing 'significant financial hardship' at the time due to 'exceptional circumstances'.

Magistrates are also being given new advice on how to approach animal cruelty.

For the first time additional aggravating factors of 'use of technology to publicise or promote cruelty' and 'animal being used in public service or as an assistance dog' are being included.

The new guidelines also cover railway fare evasion, truancy and being drunk and disorderly, aim to reflect changes in the law since the they were last updated in 2008.

They will all be in place from April 24 in England and Wales.