Police crack down on tax disc dodgers

Riders in North Yorkshire face checkpoints throughout the county aimed at catching riders with out-of-date tax discs.

If you can’t pay the fine by the roadside, your bike will be impounded. The campaign began last Wednesday, with DVLA staff and police pulling over thousands of bikers on their way to the popular Sherburn-in-Elmet meeting spot.

Cops looked for small number plates and loud pipe, too. Any bike without tax was clamped and the rider ordered to cough up £80

They were also made to pay £120 for two weeks temporary duty. That money is refundable, but only if the rider produces a valid tax disc within the period. Once the cash was paid, they got their bike back with a warning to tax it straight away. If riders couldn’t pay on the spot, their bike was shipped to a nearby pound – and it would then cost £160 to get it back the following day.

Every day it was left there added another £15 a day for storage. Then, after a further five weeks, your bike can be auctioned or crushed.

But the myth that motorcyclists dodge tax was given the lie by the operation. Of 1700 riders check, only eight were without tax. Seven paid on the spot and only one bike was impounded.

You’ve got to wonder how much the operation cost the tax payer.

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