THERE has been a huge surge in the number of Bradford drivers successfully prosecuted for having untaxed vehicles.

Clamping of untaxed vehicles has also soared since the paper tax disc was scrapped just over two years ago.

The number of successful prosecutions in areas with a Bradford postcode jumped from 437 in 2015 to 718 in 2016 - a 64 per cent increase.

EDITOR'S COMMENT: Untaxed cars crackdown is a welcome step

In October 2014, the method of renewing road tax was changed as the perforated paper circle seen in vehicles’ windows was replaced by an electronic database that keeps track of who has paid the tax. Since then, the number of vehicles in Bradford that have been clamped or impounded has risen sharply. In 2014, the number was 554, but in 2015 it had gone up to 901. By 2016, it was 907.

Also, the number of out of court settlements (OCS) issued by the DVLA rose from 879 in 2014 to 2,119 in 2015 and 2,417 in 2016.

However, the number of late licensing penalties (LLP) issued by the DVLA has dropped from 5,539 in 2012 to 3,301 in 2016. Last February, West Yorkshire Police supported a major DVLA operation in the city that saw 420 cars clamped in just two weeks.

DVLA chief executive Oliver Morley said: “The law is that you pay your tax. The vast majority pay with no problem at all.”

A spokesman for the DVLA added: “All vehicles must be taxed before they are driven on the road and almost 99 per cent are taxed correctly and on time.

“DVLA operates a range of measures to make vehicle tax easy to pay and hard to avoid, including online vehicle taxing and direct debit. DVLA also continues to send reminder letters to vehicle keepers, which is why it is so important they notify of a change of address or keeper. It is right that DVLA takes action against those who don’t tax their vehicles and then drive them, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to those who do the right thing.

“There are a number of ways DVLA enforces against untaxed vehicles. DVLA doesn’t have to spot an untaxed vehicle on the road to take action – the agency knows if a vehicle is taxed or not and can enforce directly from the record by sending out late licensing penalties. DVLA’s wheel-clamping partner NSL can also enforce against untaxed parked cars and when untaxed cars are caught by DVLA automatic number plate recognition cameras, the keeper will be sent an out of court settlement.

“When an untaxed vehicle is clamped the motorist will have to pay a release fee of £100 and, if they cannot show that the vehicle has been taxed, a surety fee of £160. The surety fee is refunded if the motorist is able to show that the vehicle has been taxed within 15 days of the vehicle’s release. If the release fee has not been paid within 24 hours the vehicle will be impounded. The release fee will then rise to £200 and there will be a storage charge of £21 per day. Again, a surety fee of £160 must be paid if the motorist cannot show that the vehicle has been taxed.”

Since 2012, and up to December 2, 2016, there had been 1,914 successful prosecutions, 3,582 vehicles clamped or impounded, 22,846 LLPs issued, and 7,340 OCSs issued.

Sergeant Cameron Buchan, from West Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “The government has taken the tax issue away from police. They made it a civil matter, such that the police don’t take action about tax. We can only report it to the DVLA, by filling in a special form.”

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) raised the issue of Bradford’s uninsured and untaxed drivers numerous times when he was Bradford East MP.

In response to the new figures, he said work by police was helping identify dangerous drivers, whose vehicles were often untaxed. He said: “Often vehicles that are untaxed, are uninsured and unlicensed. This special Steerside unit has been set up to tackle drivers who flout the law and it is all part and parcel of trying to clamp down on drivers who don’t follow the law. Agencies work together a lot more now. Before there was a culture of people thinking ‘I’m not going to get caught, so it doesn’t matter.’ Every time there is a prosecution for an untaxed vehicle it might make another driver think twice before not paying.”