'Dangerous' limos on city's roads

Southampton city drivers may now face more crackdowns

A quarter of Southampton's limousines were forced off the road by police spot checks when they were found to be too dangerous to drive.

Of the 17 limos checked on Friday night, 70% of drivers were committing offences including forgery, lack of insurance and unpaid road tax.

Insp Darren Miller, of the roads policing unit, said he is concerned the cars were in such a dangerous state.

He said: "Steering, tyres and brake cables were all found to be defective."

Big night out

The police venture with Southampton City Council found 10 of the cars to be unlicensed, but the aim of the exercise was to check the limos' conditions.

"One of our primary intentions was to cause minimal disruption to members of the public who had hired these vehicles for their big night out, but this had to be balanced against ensuring these vehicles were roadworthy," Insp Miller said.

"The limos were all checked after they had deposited their passengers at events. No passengers were left stranded," a Hampshire Constabulary spokeswoman told BBC News.