CAR owners who leave their untaxed vehicles unattended in Middlesbrough are likely to have them crushed.

Middlesbrough Council is seizing five times as many cars, which are on the road illegally, than before it was given power to remove them.

The council is the first local authority outside London to be given permission by the DVLA to take untaxed cars from the streets as soon as they are discovered.

About 25 cars a week are taken away and impounded before they are destroyed.

Before the powers came into effect the number of vehicles seized was 250 a year.

"We are really pleased with the scheme and hope the message is getting across to the people of Middlesbrough that we are getting tough on dumped and untaxed cars," said Ed Chicken, head of the department that organises the seizures.

Prior to the scheme, the council had to place a notice on the vehicle for seven days before it could be towed away.

The new system means any car without a valid tax disc can be checked through a central computer in Swansea in three seconds. If no tax has been purchased, then it can be put on a low loader and taken to a pound.

Mr Chicken said the system was far more efficient and caused less social problems than the old way of dealing with abandoned cars because they tended to get smashed up and burnt out by vandals.

Cars are held at the pound before they are crushed into a 2ft cube but owners can stop their vehicle being destroyed by paying £200.