There were 280,242 motor vehicles on the road at the end of March, up by 1,821, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.

Of these, 76.1 per cent were private vehicles, while commercial vehicles made up 16.4 per cent.

New licences issued during the first quarter of 2007 amounted to 3,123. Private vehicles accounted for 2,173 new licences, or 69.6 per cent of the total.

The largest proportion of new licences were issued to private vehicles falling within class One (<1300cc).

This class accounted for 1,380 new licences, while vehicles in class Two (1301-1449cc) accounted for 242. Compared to the previous quarter, the total number of newly-licensed new motor vehicles increased by 85, or 5.1 per cent. Newly-licensed used motor vehicles increased by 65 when compared with the last quarter of 2006.