I READ with interest about the police campaign in Hyndburn against car tax dodgers and of the vigilance of members of the public in reporting untaxed vehicles (LET, June 2). I completely agree that anyone owning a car should purchase and display a current tax disc.

With this in mind, I rang Accrington police at 7am last Wednesday and reported that there was a car parked at the top of my street with a tax disc which expired at the end of April 1999.

I was told that no action was usually taken until the disc is six weeks out of date. The person to whom I spoke appeared to possess little or no interest, even though the police continue to tell the public that it is an offence not to display a current tax disc. I was told that the traffic wardens would be informed.

The car is still parked at the top of the street and is still displaying an expired tax disc. I have never yet seen a traffic warden outside the area of Accrington town centre and I will not be holding my breath for this car to be clamped.

When I had completed the call I found myself wondering why I have bothered at all, as this is not the first time I have encountered apathy from the police when reporting a crime to them. Sadly, this attitude is all too common these days. So, the message is clear: drivers with untaxed vehicles can feel free to continue to drive them as the police are not interested if it is "only a month out of date," as I was told.

Of course, this also begs the question as to why the vehicle is untaxed: has the owner bothered to insure and MoT it? These are also offences.

Perhaps active police involvement only comes into play when drivers are stopped by police patrols and then a summons for an expired tax disc is issued.

The expectation that the police will act on information received, for for that matter, that they will express even the most basic of interest, appears to be an unreasonable one.

Name and address received

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.