POLICE are seizing more vehicles than ever before in Dorset as hi-tech equipment pinpoints drivers without insurance.

In April officers confiscated 135 vehicles and imposed on-the-spot fixed penalty fines of £200 each plus six points on drivers' licences.

And they warn that the chances of continuing to drive without insurance are dwindling as cutting edge Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment covers the county.

Chief Inspector Wesley Trickey, head of specialist operations for Dorset Police, said: "In April we seized 135 vehicles. These can be sold, scrapped or crushed. We are becoming more proactive - the more of these vehicles we can get off the road the better.

"This technology means we can be intelligence led - it's taking a lot of donkey work out of catching these drivers. We've got to educate drivers about the seriousness of driving uninsured. It's not just a piece of paper."

PC Mickey Finnigan, who trains officers from Dorset Police and from forces throughout the country and overseas in using the technology, said: "We're closing the net on drivers who are not insured.

"We are catching more and more - the number is steadily rising because of the technology we are using.

"The number of uninsured drivers varies round the country but here there are probably two or three in 100. It tends to be higher in more populated areas."

He said the typical insurance dodger was a young male driver or a criminals who also had no tax or MoT and used a car to commit crimes.

He added: "We've got more vehicles coming on line with ANPR. Wherever you drive in Dorset you will be coming across one of our vehicles."

PC Finnigan warned that the team would be focusing on Dorchester after he identified two uninsured vehicles within about 100 yards while driving to the Thomas Hardye School to demonstrate the use of ICT in police work to students.

He said: "I switched on the system to have something on it to show the students and between Maud Road and the school it picked up two cars.

"I suggest drivers get themselves insured - it will save them a lot of grief."

He said police officers were familiar with the consequences of people driving uninsured.

He said: "We know of uninsured drivers climbing over injured passengers to get away. They've left them in the car dying and with footprints on the passengers' chests where they've got out."

He said the repercussion for victims of uninsured drivers could be devastating with seriously injured people left without funding for lifelong care.