THAMES Valley Police has revealed the results of a six-month operation to crack down on uninsured drivers.

From March 1 to August 1 this year, working with police in Hampshire, officers identified more than 2,500 vehicles across five counties which were uninsured.

The forces wrote to the owners of every single one, 'encouraging them to check if their policy was correct and up-do-date'.

All of the vehicles were checked again after three weeks, and the force said it had managed to persuade 80 per cent to get their vehicle insured or update their records.

Police also seized 113 vehicles where the owner failed to comply and the remaining 484 vehicles are either waiting to be rechecked or set for more enforcement.

Operation Tutelage, as it was dubbed, was considered such a success it is now set to be copied by other forces across the country.

The operation was set up in March in response to the growing problem of uninsured vehicles being used on the roads of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire.

Oxford Mail:

Inspector Simon Hills from the Joint Roads Policing Unit, pictured above, said: “It is estimated that there are currently more than 48,000 uninsured vehicles across the five counties of Hampshire and Thames Valley and whilst the percentage of uninsured vehicles in our region is below the national average, it is still a cause for concern.

“It is vital for us to reduce the number of uninsured vehicles on the roads. We know that uninsured vehicles account for a proportionately higher number of collisions, and are more likely to be linked with ‘fatal four’ offences, such as drink and drug driving. Uninsured vehicles also create a cost burden to those who buy insurance with an estimated £15 from each private car policy being used to pay for uninsured losses each year.

“The 80 per cent compliance rate is very pleasing. We have taken a neighbourhood approach to engaging with the motoring community and this lighter touch engagement has led to some very positive feedback, including a lady who insured her daughter’s car by mistake instead of her own, a gentleman who insured his wife’s car twice but forgot to insure his own and a gentleman who insured his house twice but forgot to insure his car. We also had some lovely letters from people who had genuinely just forgotten to renew their policies and were so grateful that we had warned them but not prosecuted them."