Four untaxed cars seized from same residential road in one hour

A Renault Clio, a Renault estate car, a Mercedes sports car and a Ford Transit minibus were towed away after the force received a report that untaxed vehicles were being kept.

After the report was made at 11.53am on Monday, the cars had been seized an hour later. It was a bad start to the new year for those owners who saw their vehicles taken away.

Three tow trucks arrived in a swoop to remove all four vehicles in one go. One of them had to reverse onto the pavement and muddy grass to remove the Renault Clio while the other vehicles were being loaded. Police have not revealed which road the four cars were parked on.

It comes just a few months after it was revealed thatg Wolverhampton is among the worst areas in the country for untaxed vehicles.

Figures released by the Motor Insurers' Bureau and the National Roads Policing Intelligence Forum showed that 11 of the top 20 postal districts for untaxed vehicles are in the West Midlands. Eleventh on the list is the WV2 postcode – All Saints, Blakenhall and Parkfields.

In the West Midlands an estimated 3.17 per cent out of 3.7 million vehicles are not insured, 117,000 vehicles. Tax evading motorists face a £300 fine, six points on their licence and seizure of the vehicle.

Last year police launched Operation Drive, which aims to seize around 3,000 vehicles per week as part of their powers to tackle uninsured driving.

Since last January, there have been police and council operations carried out in Wolverhampton and Sandwell.

More than 30 cars were confiscated from streets in Wolverhampton during the first three months of last year with roads in the St Peter's, Park and Graiseley wards among those targeted.

In January police also picked up an Audi from the Wednesfield area, which was being driven despite not being taxed since April 2015. Two cars parked on Bolton Road, near Wednesfield Police Station, were seized for not being correctly taxed.

Det Supt Paul Keasey, the National Police Chiefs Council's head of national roads policing intelligence forum, said: "With ever-improving technology including the police's widespread use of AutomaticNumber Plate Recognition, the message from all our police forces is: you will be caught."