Car tax dodgers in the North-East will wake up on Thursday to the realisation the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has got their number - literally.

Mobile cameras have caught 109 unlicensed vehicles on the move - across Teesside - in just the first two days of a region wide clamp down on tax evaders. In the same period hit squads have clamped 20 unlicensed vehicles.

"It's been quite successful for just the first two days," said a DVLA spokesman. "What we are hoping is people will go out and voluntarily renew their car tax.

"For those hardened evaders they can see the evidence now that we mean business; that we mean what we say."

It is estimated that there are 13,000 road tax dodgers on Teesside costing the Exchequer £1.6m in lost revenue.

Dodgers picked up on camera will receive fines in the post while those wheel clamped will have to pay £200, which includes an £80 declamping fee plus £120 towards the purchase of a tax disc.

If the vehicle is not claimed in the first 24 hours it will be towed away to a pound and drivers will then have to hand over £280 before they can drive away. That is made up of a £160 towing charge, the £120 surety payment for a tax disc and a storage fee of £15 a day.

The mobile stingray cameras can be operated from lay-bys and bridges and can accurately read the number plates of vehicles travelling at more than 100mph. The damning film evidence could lead to some drivers being prosecuted.

The spokesman said: "We don't want people thinking that because they saw a camera on a certain road one day it will be there the next, because they can be moved easily. And people should not be taken in." Cleveland Police are also stepping up enforcement activities including random checks. Inspector Steve Lawson of the Force's Road Policing Unit, said: "This is a road safety initiative. Untaxed vehicles usually have no insurance or test certificate and present a danger to all road users.

"If owners do not license or relicense their vehicles they will be clamped and then removed. This will aid the free flow of traffic for which our roads were designed."