POLICE are seizing uninsured cars around Dorset as part of a five-year plan.

Last year Dorset Police seized a total of 891 uninsured cars in Dorset.

The seizures are part of a five-year strategy, which was launched in 2011, for tackling criminal and anti-social road use, including drivers who choose to use a vehicle without insurance.

However, the DVLA has estimated that there are a total of more than 6,000 uninsured vehicles in the county.

In 2005, new legislation was introduced that allows police to seize vehicles from uninsured or unlicensed drivers and retaining them until they have been insured.

Since this has been introduced the number of uninsured drivers on the road has almost halved, to an estimate of around one million nationally.

Inspector Matt Butler, pictured above, from Dorset Police’s Traffic Unit, said they use their Facebook and Twitter pages to publicise the fact they are seizing cars.

“We hope the publicity will make people think twice about driving while uninsured and also reassure the vast majority of motorists, who drive legally with insurance, that we are tackling those without it,” he said.

“Dealing with uninsured cars is daily business for uniformed officers, but the Traffic Unit also regularly run a proactive operation named Operation Wolf, which is focused on the criminal use of cars by utilising technology. This will regularly see us seize five uninsured cars in a shift.”

Statistics from the Motor Insurers Bureau show that Dorset’s biggest hotspot for cases of uninsured drivers is Bournemouth, with the worst area having more than double the amount of cars seized than the national average.

Areas are ranked by postcode and the figures show other hotspots in Dorset include Poole, Shaftesbury, Lyme Regis, Verwood, Wareham, Dorchester, Gillingham and Sturminster Newton.