Police set vehicle seizure target

Owners without insurance face having their cars crushed

Police on Teesside plan to seize 1,000 cars a year in a campaign against uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

Owners are also warned that they have just 14 days to make amends or their vehicles will be crushed or dismantled.

With advanced tracking technology a simple license plate check lets the police find out if a driver is insured.

After a successful pilot scheme and with roadside cameras surveillance the Cleveland force believes it can catch a 1,000 cheats every year.

Police say criminals regularly use unlicensed vehicles when carrying out offences, and statistics show that uninsured drivers are nine times more likely to be involved in an accident, five times more likely to drink drive and three times more likely to drive without undue care and attention.

'No hiding'

It is also estimated that £30 out of every car insurance premium goes towards covering the cost of uninsured drivers.

Assistant chief constable Adam Briggs: "Such motorists are a menace on the roads, which we are not prepared to tolerate.

"Through advances in technology we can now ascertain whether a driver is insured through a simple licence plate check.

"What's more these checks can now be done by roadside cameras 24 hours a day, so there is no hiding.

"Our trials with this new technology have gone very well and we are now confident of removing 1,000 uninsured vehicles a year from the roads of Cleveland."