DVLA targets unpaid car taxes as motorists risk £100 fines and having vehicles clamped

The DVLA has been cracking down on drivers who fail to pay car taxes, with the number of wheel-clamping incidents soaring.

Wales has emerged as a major focus for the DVLA's crackdown on unpaid Vehicle Excise Duty, with Cardiff recording more wheel clamping incidents last year than several larger British cities.

The Welsh capital placed fourth nationally for enforcement actions, trailing only London, Manchester and Birmingham in the rankings.

Cities with substantially bigger populations, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and Sheffield, all saw fewer vehicles immobilised than Cardiff during the same period.

Enforcement action is targeting motorists who failed to pay road tax, although certain exemptions apply, including for disabled drivers and owners of cars more than four decades old.

DVLA teams operating in Newport alone immobilised as many as 900 vehicles each month as part of the intensified enforcement programme.

Patrol units rely on Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology, with cameras mounted on vehicles scanning registrations and cross-referencing them instantly against central databases to identify those without valid tax.

Paul Davies, the DVLA's Senior Leader for National Wheelclamping and ANPR Enforcement, said the majority of the public backs the initiative.

"We normally get requests from people saying, 'Can you come to our area and help with some of the untaxed vehicles that are being a nuisance and open to anti-social behaviour?'" he told ITV.

According to DVLA figures, very few vehicles on UK roads lack valid car tax, with the most recent statistics suggesting that 98.7 per cent of cars are properly registered.

Motorists caught with an untaxed vehicle face immediate financial penalties, with clamp removal costing a minimum of £100 on top of any outstanding duty owed.

Drivers who disregard warnings attached to their clamped vehicle or sent through the post risk having their car seized entirely and transported to a DVLA compound.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• DVSA issues Highway Code warning to drivers over common road offence leading to £2,500 fines
• Drivers urged to save thousands of pounds with electric cars - 'Cheaper than petrol, diesel or hybrid'
• Iran war prompts calls for motorway speed limit cut and more 20mph roads in 'dual win' for Labour

Newport's vehicle pound can hold around 100 cars at any given time, with owners accumulating additional daily charges for every day their vehicle remains in DVLA custody.

The range of impounded vehicles varies considerably, from ageing cars barely worth the recovery fees to expensive newer models.

Enforcement activities generated £110million for the DVLA during the previous year, with all proceeds returning to the UK Treasury for allocation across Government spending, including defence and policing.

Vehicles left uncollected at the pound for a fortnight or longer face either auction or destruction, depending on their residual value.

The DVLA has identified connections between unpaid road tax and broader criminal activity, with searches of abandoned vehicles frequently uncovering illicit items.

Cars cleared from the pound after extended periods have been found to contain weapons, quantities of cash and illegal drugs.

However, the agency acknowledged that for most drivers, an expired tax disc represents nothing more than an oversight, albeit one that proves costly to rectify.

Claire Jones, Newport's Pound and Transport Manager, said: "I like to instil in my enforcement officers that if a car's clamped and they come across the confrontational person, they understand how to approach them and how to help them."

Ms Jones noted that around 85 per cent of initially hostile motorists are calmed once officers guide them through the payment process, with many clamps removed on the spot.