ROAD tax cheats beware! The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) could be crushing your car soon.

As part of a new scheme to get tough on those who cheat the system, squads of wheelclamping units will be touring Herefordshire and towing away any vehicle without a valid road tax disc and destroying it if the owner does not make a claim within 14 days.

The 'clampers' will be joined in the battle by Stingray - a new camera which automatically reads the number plates of passing vehicles and instantaneously checks whether road tax has been paid.

The tough measures form part of the 'no exceptions, no excuses and no escape' attitude of the DVLA, who lose £2.8 million in revenue from the 24,000 road tax cheat in Herefordshire and Worcestershire each year.

Terry Barnard, Head of Enforcement for DVLA, added a cautionary warning.

"We are taking a hard line and stepping up our enforcement activity by introducing the Stingray cameras in a determined effort to clamp down on this irresponsible group who evade paying their road tax. Honest motorists are infuriated at having to subsidise road tax cheats and it is a constant source of resentment," he added.