A CLAMPING scheme designed to crack down on road tax dodgers has claimed more than 2,000 victims in its first six months. Half the vehicles clamped and then towed away remain in 'car graveyards' and will be crushed if their owners don't turn up to collect them.

The scheme started last August in Greater London, the North West, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland and has already brought in an additional £4.4 million in revenue from the 40,000 car owners it has encouraged to relicence their vehicles voluntarily. Operated on behalf of the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency by Sureway Parking Services, the clamping scheme uses hi-tech electronic communications to identify offending vehicles.

Clamping teams use hand-held computers to verify whether a vehicle is taxed with the DVLA database before immobilising those which aren't. If the owner fails to contact the company inside 24 hours, the vehicle is towed away to a pound and ultimately destroyed if nobody turns up to pay the release fee, storage charges and back duty plus a fine of up to £1,000.