A CRACKDOWN on vehicles with no road tax resulted in more than 20 being clamped and towed away.

The three-day initiative in Derwentside, which ended on Friday, was carried out by Consett police and the DVLA.

As well as untaxed vehicles being taken away, many more were detected by the DVLA using automatic number plate recognition.

The keepers of these vehicles face having to pay a fine or possibly going to court.

Police community support officer Steve Mann said: "During recent months, an increasing number of untaxed vehicles have been spotted in the Derwentside area and we are working in partnership with the DVLA to tackle the problem.

"The majority of people pay their road tax and we hope this operation sends out a strong message to those who don't."

He said that following the success of the operation, others were being planned for the coming months.