LICENCE-dodging drivers are to be dealt a crushing blow in a police clampdown.

Anyone caught driving without insurance or a licence on Teesside now faces having their vehicle sent to the crusher.

The ultimatum has been made by Cleveland Police, which claimed criminals use unlicensed vehicles to carry out offences.

In addition, figures show uninsured drivers are nine times more likely to be involved in an accident.

The statistics showed that unlicensed drivers were five times more likely to drink-drive, and three times more likely to drive without due care and attention.

Adam Briggs, Assistant Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, said the force was confident of seizing 1,000 cars a year.

He said: "Such motorists are a menace on the roads, which we are not prepared to tolerate.

"Through advances in technology, we can now ascertain whether a driver is insured through a simple licence plate check. What's more, these checks can now be done by roadside cameras 24 hours a day, so there is no hiding.

"As well as posing a real danger to themselves, other road users and pedestrians, uninsured drivers hit every responsible motorist in the pocket."

Mr Briggs said it was estimated that £30 in every car insurance premium went towards covering the cost of uninsured drivers.

Using the number plate recognition technology, roadside cameras detect uninsured cars and alert traffic patrol officers. The car can then be pulled over and the driver ordered to hand over the keys.

Mr Briggs said: "Our trials with this new technology have gone very well, and we are now confident of removing 1,000 uninsured vehicles a year from the roads of Cleveland."

As well as facing prosecution for driving without proper insurance, drivers who are caught face losing their cars to the crusher if they fail to take out a policy and pay recovery and storage charges within 14 days.

Since they launched a similar scheme last year, Durham Police officers have seized 1,838 uninsured and unlicensed vehicles and crushed 1,013 of them.

The 1,000th to be crushed was an N-registered Renault Clio.