A CLAMPDOWN on car tax dodgers in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale has been hailed a huge success.

And police have pledged there will be more clamping to come with a repeat of the recent crackdown planned for the near future.

The two-week operation was carried out by police, traffic wardens and the DVLA in August, and 221 untaxed vehicles were clamped.

One man in Nelson was so incensed at finding his car clamped he rushed back indoors for a sledgehammer and smashed his car to pieces.

Police said 97 other owners opted to retain their vehicles and subsequently paid the release fee of £68 and taxed their vehicles. The remaining 124 were towed to a DVLA compound where the owners will have to pay a release fee of £135 plus a £12 per day storage charge. Any vehicles not claimed within five weeks will be crushed or sold at auction and owners of unlicensed vehicles still face the prospect of prosecution with fines of up to £1,000 in addition to the back tax owed and court costs.

Inspector Dave Holden, of the road policing unit at Colne, said: "This exercise proved extremely worthwhile and received widespread public support."

He said many vehicles went untaxed because of a defect or the owners did not have an MoT or insurance certificate.

"As a result of this initiative, not only have 97 motorists now taxed their vehicles, but also 124 vehicles which were not displaying an excise licence - and may have been without other documentation - have been removed from the streets.

"This is not a one-off operation. At our invitation the DVLA wheel-clampers will return to repeat the exercise.

"We will continue to gather intelligence on untaxed vehicles and target them accordingly. If you do not want to lose your vehicle the message is simple - tax it."

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