|
 |
 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: UK: Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Tuesday, 4 September, 2001, 12:24 GMT 13:24 UK Clampdown on car tax dodgers  Drivers in Northern Ireland are to face a major clampdown following reports that three times as many people avoid paying motor tax compared to the rest of the UK. Motor tax evasion cost the authorities �12m each year and the Department of Environment's Driver and Vehicle Licensing division has launched a major new initiative to catch those breaking the law. A publicity campaign began on Tuesday in conjunction with the RUC to encourage motorists to ensure their vehicles are suitably licensed. Extensive advertising featuring Thunderbirds legends Lady Penelope and Parker will warn evaders that from 17 September, the police will be intensifying their efforts to ensure that vehicles are displaying current licence discs. Responsible Northern Ireland Minister of the Environment Sam Foster said the threat of prosecution and large fines would hopefully prompt motorists into acting responsibly. "We will not be penalising those whose licence discs have fallen off the windscreen or are a few days late renewing them," he said. "Before vehicles are clamped, details on the vehicle register will be checked with DVLNI."
Mr Foster added that motor tax evasion would ultimately cost drivers more and that responsible motorists had nothing to fear. "Being caught in this clampdown will certainly hit the pockets of road tax dodgers much harder than the cost of a vehicle excise licence. Mr Brendan Magee, Chief Executive of DVLNI said: "Since the launch of the wheel clamping scheme in Northern Ireland in January 1998, 2,000 motorists have been wheel clamped for not having a valid vehicle excise licence," he said. Wheel clamping "In addition, 40,000 motorists have relicensed their vehicles voluntarily as a direct result of the wheel clamping scheme bringing in �4.6m in additional revenue. "To date, over 400 motorists in Northern Ireland who have failed to retrieve their unlicensed vehicles from vehicle pounds, have had them crushed. According to Superintendent Ian Hamill, head of the RUC's Road Policing Development Branch, road tax evaders were also likely to have no motor insurance and no vehicle test certificate. "The implications for vehicle road worthiness should be clear to everyone," he said. | | Top Northern Ireland stories now:  Links to more Northern Ireland stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more Northern Ireland stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend