Police vehicle seizures

Traffic officers from Greater Manchester Police have seized 50,000 vehicles, around Greater Manchester, for no insurance or license since 2005. And in the last year, January - December 2009, 424 vehicles were seized in the Rochdale area.

In November 2005, new powers enabled officers to seize uninsured vehicles or those driven without the correct licence.

A specialist team of traffic officers have worked in a unit, codenamed Operation Wolverine since 2006, which was set up to specifically tackle this type of crime.

To reclaim their vehicles, owners have to prove that insurance cover is in place and pay a fee of £150, plus a storage charge of £20 per day. If an owner fails to reclaim the vehicle within seven working days, it is likely to be scrapped or sold.

The same process is used to deal with motorists who are found driving without a valid licence.

This milestone figure has been made possible through access to Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment, which is on board all traffic police cars.

Chief Superintendent Dave Anthony of GMP’s Specialist Operations Branch said: “Uninsured drivers are likely to be involved in other types of crime and activities such as drink driving and unlicenced drivers are much more likely to be involved in a collision.

“By seizing 50,000 cars we are making sure that people are free to drive safely without coming into contact with an uninsured or unlicenced driver who may put them at risk. We are ridding the road of un-roadworthy vehicles and denying criminals the use of the roads.

“Since the introduction of this legislation in 2005 we have also seen a reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.”