AN academic has backed Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon’s fight against the Government over “illegal fines” on motorists.

Mr Mallon has vowed to take on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) over demand notices issued to drivers – a practice which has earned more than £3m in the past three years.

Now Norman Dennis, a retired reader in social sciences at Newcastle University, has joined calls for the system to be overhauled.

The 80-year-old said the agency used its powers to “jump on all sorts of innocent and law-abiding people”.

Motorists who try to contest the DVLA penalties of up to £80 – which are issued to those who fail to notify the agency that they have sold their vehicle – are referred to debt collectors.

Mr Mallon, the former zero-tolerance police chief, nicknamed Robocop, says the penalties are illegal because they do not offer drivers the chance to put their case in court.

Mr Dennis, a former director at the think-tank the Institute for the Study of Civil Society, said officials led him into a “maze of misdirections”

when he tried to appeal against an £80 fine he got for sending the agency the wrong form.

“Many people with a justified case against the DVLA don’t even try to appeal,” he said. “They are too intimated by the DVLA’s empty bluster about taking them to court.

“In fact, although the DVLA often officially says it is a ‘fine’, you have no right to go before the magistrates, and the DVLA hardly ever dares to take you.”

Mr Dennis compared the ruthless enforcement of DVLA penalties to the leniency officials have shown to MPs during the recent expenses scandal.

Mr Mallon launched his campaign against the DVLA after both of his daughters were issued with penalties within months of each other. He has called for the penalties to be scrapped and refunded to all motorists affected.

A DVLA spokesman said: “We have a duty to maintain an accurate record and this plays an important part in ensuring safety on the roads.

“Our licensing and registration systems are designed to make it as easy as possible for drivers to use the road safely and legally.”