HEREFORDSHIRE drivers have been warned by the police there is no way of avoiding taxing their vehicles.

West Mercia Police are warning motorists that car tax evasion is a problem strongly associated with poor roadworthiness and criminal activity.

As a result they are working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to crack down on untaxed vehicles to make roads safer across Herefordshire.

The police are warning drivers that untaxed vehicles are less likely to be roadworthy because motorists require a valid MOT and insurance to be able to tax their vehicles. They also estimate that 80% of untaxed vehicles have no insurance.

Chief Insp Andy Udall, from West Mercia ‘s force operations, said: “Tackling this problem is an on-going issue for West Mercia. Detection and enforcement is carried out on a regular basis by the roads policing and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) teams across Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire.

"We are determined to deny criminals the use of roads in West Mercia and will continue to work with the DVLA to catch car tax evaders.” The police and the DVLA are working in partnership to trace untaxed vehicles across the county. These can be identified from DVLA records and owners will then be issued with a penalty.

Drivers who think they can avoid registering their details with DVLA, or who refuse to pay a penalty, are warned they will also be targeted through a national wheel clamping operation. This can result in offenders’ cars being impounded and crushed.

The DVLA’s wheelclamping contractor, NCP, uses a fleet of vans equipped with state-of-the-art ANPR technology.

This technology can check number plates against a list of untaxed vehicles in seconds. This action makes it harder than ever for car tax evaders to escape detection.

Police operations have also revealed that up to 70% of the occupants of untaxed vehicles are involved in other criminal activity. The police say through the targeting of untaxed vehicles they have made arrests across the country for a variety of different offences including supplying drugs and possession of offensive weapons.

For more information on car tax go to www.direct. gov.uk/motoring