Officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit (BCH RPU) now have the power to seize vehicles that have been untaxed for longer than eight weeks.

To help address the problem of untaxed vehicles, the DVLA has commenced a programme devolving its powers to police forces under the Vehicle Excise Duty Regulations 1997.

Sergeant Pete Scholes, from the BCH RPU, said: “The devolvement of these powers is great news for us as officers because it gives us another tool to deny criminals the use of the three counties’ road network, ensuring untaxed vehicles are removed from the roads and achieving further casualty reduction.

“In practice this means that when certain criteria are met, BCH RPU officers can now seize untaxed vehicles.

“These vehicles will then be held for period of time which will allow their owners to tax and/or register them.

“However, if they do not comply with the DVLA requirements then, dependant on value, the vehicles will either be scrapped or auctioned.”

BCH RPU officers have been exercising their new powers since Monday, December 3, and a number of vehicles have already been seized.

Tim Burton, head of enforcement at the DVLA, said: “We operate a range of measures to make vehicle tax easy to pay and hard to avoid, including online vehicle taxing and direct debit.

“We also continue to send reminder letters to vehicle keepers, which is why it is so important they notify the DVLA of a change of address or keeper.

“It is right that action is taken against those who don’t tax their vehicles and then drive them, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to the majority of motorists who do the right thing.

“We are delighted to work with BCH RPU officers to make sure these untaxed vehicles are not driven on the road.”

•More information and guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax