Courts to clamp debtors' cars

Almost £6m in fines was unpaid in the region at the end of last year

Magistrates' courts in the South West have been given the power to clamp cars belonging to people who do not pay their fines.

The new rules came into force on Monday as part of a pilot project being run by the government.

At the end of last year almost £6m in fines was outstanding in Devon and Cornwall.

Courts Minister Christopher Leslie said they wanted to stop people getting away with not paying fines.

New system

"One of the ways in which we can do that is use some of the new powers to make sure people don't evade the system any further," he said.

"If they have got vehicles, we will try out the clamping of cars to make sure they can't get away with not paying."

Under the new system, a person who refuses to pay court fines will first be given an order to pay.

If they refuse again the fine will be taken from their wages or benefits, although this does not apply to disability benefit.

If this fails and they still do not pay, they could have their car clamped.

If the offender does not have a vehicle then personal possessions could be taken in lieu of payment. The next option is prison.