Clampdown success

12:25pm Monday 9th April 2007

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TRAFFORD police seized more than 300 vehicles, made 20 arrests and issued 290 fixed penalty notices during a special two-week operation last month.

The initiative - carried out with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - aimed to disrupt criminal activity and make the roads safer.

Officers used the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) and the Motors Insurance Database (MID) to identify people driving without insurance.

Drivers unable to produce proof of insurance then faced having their vehicle seized and impounded.

Insp Paul Philbin, from Trafford's road policing unit, said: "Criminals don't tend to tax or insure their vehicles and need to use the roads to go about their business.

"Therefore, by targeting and seizing uninsured and untaxed vehicles, we are directly disrupting criminal activity, as well as ensuring that the roads are safer for law-abiding drivers.

"Anyone intent on driving without tax and insurance should be warned that we will continue to run these type of operations and so, there is no hiding place."