A car with a smashed front was among more than 50 vehicles stopped by police as part of a joint operation with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the council.
The Fiat Panda was involved in an accident in the South Wales Police area. It was then stopped by Gwent Police officers yesterday, Tuesday, November 13, and taken off the road because of the heavy damage.
A total of 56 vehicles were stopped and taken to Caerphilly’s Gallagher Retail Park by Gwent Police as part of operation Utah.
Twenty-two vehicles were issued with Traffic Offence Reports for minor offences, such as not wearing a seatbelt and having faulty lights. Eleven vehicles were seized for not having insurance or their drivers having licences. A further three vehicles were confiscated for not having valid tax.
Four police vehicles and two motorbikes were stationed at the retail park with 20 officers were present for the exercise.
The force used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to detect uninsured or stolen vehicles in and around the area.
This type of action has been routinely carried out by the police for 15 years.
Inspector Wendy Keepin, of Gwent Police, told the Caerphilly Observer: “The public expects us to do days like this. Prevention is better than detection.”
She continued: “Drivers have a responsibility to make sure their cars are roadworthy. If not, they can expect to be dealt with robustly.”
As part of a nationwide insurance enforcement campaign, the police teamed up with Caerphilly County Borough Council to look for unlicensed taxis and unlicensed scrap metal dealers.
One company is being investigated for having no operators licence, while three scrap metal collectors have been reported for not having any records.
The DVSA seized 28 vehicles and kept them on site until the identified faults were fixed. A further 18 vehicles were issued with delayed prohibitions, which allows the vehicles up to ten days to sort out the issues. Two van drivers were reported by the DVSA for overloading their vans.
DVSA Traffic Examiner Anthony Lewis said: “DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles. Working closely with Gwent Police on Operation Utah has meant that we’ve been able to take some unroadworthy and illegally overweight vehicles off the roads here in South East Wales.”
He continued: “We urge drivers to ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy and that their license is suitable for the vehicle they wish to drive, otherwise they risk a fine or prosecution.”