Exclusive: Labour MP calls on DVLA to take action, saying ‘speeding, hit and runs and worse’ are going unpunished
More than 18,000 vehicles are being used in the UK without proper records of where their owners live, it has emerged, part of what a Labour MP has called an increasing problem of “ghost owners” who cannot be held accountable for their driving.
According to a freedom of information request to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, 18,260 vehicles were listed in its records as being registered to the DVLA’s own address, meaning the owner’s location was not known.
The Labour MP Sarah Coombes, who has campaigned over what she says are excessively lax rules that allow people to easily buy cloned or otherwise untraceable number plates, has called on the agency to take urgent action. The West Bromwich MP was expected to speak in a debate on the DVLA taking place in the Commons on Thursday.
While the agency says many of the vehicles without an address are owned by car traders, and thus not an issue, the British Parking Association, which submitted the FoI request, has argued that the real problem is most likely much greater than suggested by the figures.
