Police and Crime Commissioner Adam Simmonds has invited a Government minister to Northamptonshire to highlight the problem of illegally registered foreign vehicles on the county’s roads.
Mr Simmonds has called on the Government to tighten controls on “foreign registered vehicles that openly flout the law in Britain” and revealed he has written to Westminster to address the problem.
The PCC says the problem could be “exacerbated” when Bulgaria and Romania become part of the EU.
In a letter to Stephen Hammond MP, the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Transport, Mr Simmonds “highlighted the concerns of a number of constituents regarding the challenges posed by the large number of foreign registered vehicles”.
The scale of the growing problem being faced by the county was highlighted by the fact that officers from Romania, Lithuania and Poland actively took part in a recent operation to tackle the number of illegal vehicles on our roads.
Mr Simmonds said: “There is clearly a need for the Government to work with us to reduce risk and make our roads safer for all.
“I have asked the Minister how the Government intends to address this problem, which may be exacerbated next year when Bulgarians and Romanians become eligible to work in the UK as EU citizens.
“I have invited him to Northamptonshire to see at first hand the problems we are facing, and how the Government can perhaps help us tackle more effectively the use of illegal foreign registered vehicles on our roads.”