TAX bosses have been accused of adding to holiday traffic misery – by scanning cars on one of the busiest roads in Hampshire.

Queues stretched back almost ten miles along the A31 from the M27 to Ringwood yesterday as regular commuter traffic combined with thousands of holidaymakers flooding back from the West Country.

But the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been accused of making the situation worse by setting up a roadside camera unit along the route.

The device was set up in a lay-by near Stoney Cross in a bid to snare tax-dodging drivers.

But some motorists, fearing they were passing a mobile speed camera, were slowing up as they approached – further hampering the traffic flow.

Nigel Humphries from the British Association of Drivers said the DVLA should have avoided scanning during peak holiday traffic time.

He said: “What this does is create an interruption in the traffic flow.

“I’m all for getting illegal drivers off the road, but it has to be done in a sensible way.

“It should have been done at a much better time.”

One motorist, writing about the scenario on the Daily Echo website, added: “There was a queue right back to Burley Services which started moving as soon as I passed the tax disc camera.

“Not clever from the DVLA on what was always going to be a busy morning.”

The Automatic Number Plate Registration Cameras work by scanning a number plate before checking whether the vehicle is taxed.

A DVLA spokesman said it was deployed in the morning rush hour to catch as many offenders as possible.

He added: “When drivers see cameras they do tend to slow down and that can cause tailbacks, especially at busy times.

“It is not in our interests to set up a camera on an isolated country lane.

“We go for peak times as that is when there are large numbers of cars on the road.”