Hampshire Police seized more than 2,500 uninsured vehicles last year, uncovering hundreds of other offences.

This comes as part of the police forces commitment to make Hampshire’s roads safer.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary said 2,505 vehicles were seized across both counties last year for driving without insurance, up from 2,098 the previous year.

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From the 2,505 vehicles seized, 305 were identified as vehicles of interest to police.

From these, officers found the following offences:

• 20 arrested for criminal offences
• 47 arrested for impaired driving
• 22 arrested for driving whilst disqualified
• 219 other offences of no licence, no MOT or other construction and use offences

This means that of the 305 vehicles were stopped, police found an additional 308 offences over and above the original reason of the vehicle having no insurance.

Head of roads policing, Superintendent Colin Hudson, said: "In many cases, vehicles being deliberately driven without insurance are an indicator of other offences.

“For example, our roads policing teams will routinely stop vehicles for having no insurance and further uncover the driver has no licence, or the car is stolen, or there is evidence of crime, often serious in nature.”

He went on to say: "The fantastic work our officers are doing in identifying and removing these vehicles from our roads will make them a safer place for all motorists and help keep communities safe by disrupting criminals using the roads."

Forces across the country are tasked with submitting monthly vehicle seizure statistics to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) – the UK body responsible for reducing levels of uninsured driving.

Officers are able to use Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras – built into police cars – that can detect vehicles on the road that are driven without insurance.

Motorists who are found to be driving an uninsured vehicle could be handed a fixed penalty of £300, as well as receiving six penalty points on their licence.

Simon French, Law Enforcement Liaison Officer at MIB, said: “Tackling uninsured driving isn’t just about getting people to pay premiums – data shows us that those who deliberately drive uninsured cause more frequent and, often, more catastrophic collisions too, so it’s about making roads safer and fairer for everyone.

"Our message is simple: drive with adequate insurance, or you will be caught.”