More than 200 Whanganui residents have been threatened with losing the right to drive over unpaid traffic fines.
Figures obtained by the Wanganui Chronicle under the Official Information Act reveal Whanganui District Court sent 202 letters in the past two years warning people to pay their outstanding traffic fines - or have their licences suspended.
The warning letters were sent under the Driver Licence Stop Order (DLSO) scheme, an initiative introduced in February 2014 to recover outstanding traffic-related debts.
More than $116,000 had been directly recovered from Whanganui residents as a result of the warning letters, and only two people had their licences suspended.
Whanganui debt collector Mark McLachlan said the licence threat was "definitely leverage", but said he was not sure whether the scheme was positive.