Clamping soars since end of tax disc

WHEEL clamping has soared by more than 500 per cent in some areas since the tax disc was scrapped.

Almost 75,000 untaxed cars were immobilised in the last year, figures show.

Under the new rules, which came into force last October, details of whether a car is properly taxed are held on a database accessed by police and DVLA officials.

It is believed many owners are being caught out by the fact that a car’s road tax becomes invalid once the registered keeper hands the vehicle over to a new owner and signs a V5C form. The new owner must instantly contact the DVLA and register for the tax.

Drivers who are clamped can face bills of up to £800 to get their vehicles back.

In the year to May, 74,590 vehicles were clamped for not having road tax, up from 49,466 in the previous year – a 52 per cent rise. In May this year alone, clampers tar- geted 7,269 cars, up from 5,534 in October when the tax disc was axed.

A regional breakdown of the figures, obtained by MailOnline, shows the Hereford area tops the league table, with 68 vehicles clamped in the past year – a 518 per cent rise on the previous year.

Plymouth has seen a 300 per cent rise to 910 cars clamped.

Tax discs were scrapped after 93 years to cut down on government red tape.

The DVLA said the new system made ‘vehicle tax easy to pay but hard to avoid’.