Campaign against tax dodgers

Clamp and Crush Action Against Road Tax Cheats

There are an estimated 1.53 million unlicensed vehicles in Britain. Of these, 315,000 are in the south east of England and 172,000 in London.

The latest campaign will result in the wheelclamping of vehicles that have no car tax disc displayed.

To get the car released, owners will have to pay a £68 fee and will also have to show a valid tax disc.

If a disc cannot be produced, a £100 surety will have to be paid for a car or motorcycle and up to £500 for any other vehicle.

Vehicles will be towed away and impounded if not claimed within 24 hours. The release fee will then increase to £135 and there will be storage charges of £12 a day.

Vehicles not reclaimed within five weeks will be disposed of by crushing or by being sold at auction.

More than 500 vehicles were wheelclamped in a three-month pilot exercise on tax cheats in five London boroughs last year. More than £2 million in additional revenue was recovered.

Nearly 60% of the clamped vehicles remained unclaimed and were crushed or auctioned. More than 21,000 motorists heeded warnings during the pilot campaign and went out and got their vehicles relicensed.