POLICE in Preston are clamping down on road tax dodgers and dangerous drivers with a hi-tech camera.

The DVLA will be out on the streets of Preston with their Automatic Number Plate Recognition system, which scans number plates as they pass and checks driver's records.

A team of traffic wardens and police will be waiting on the city's streets poised to catch offenders, and cars without an up-to-date disc will be clamped and face a whopping £160 fee for its release or £300 if the vehicle is not claimed within a day.

The move, part of Operation Delve, started last month, is aimed at making the city safer. Organised by the traffic warden department, it runs throughout summer, concentrating on vehicles being driven without a seatbelt, drivers using mobile phones, and dangerous vehicles.

Within hours of launching the new scheme on Wednesday, the cameras tracked a car being driven without tax. When stopped, the driver was also found to be drunk. He was arrested and taken to Preston police station.

Bob Feeney, senior traffic warden, said: "This is a great piece of equipment that is helping to support Operation Delve. As we have seen we are out not just targeting unroadworthy cars, but cars with no tax, no insurance and vehicles that are stolen.

"Our message is if you have no tax, no insurance, or an unroadworthy car we are out with the Clamping Unit and the Automatic Number Plate Recognition computer system and in time we will come across you."