NO TAX, NO MOT, NO INSURANCE, NO DRIVING LICENSE - BUT DRIVING AROUND HEREFORD

12.03.00pm GMT Mon 21st Jul 2003

Hereford MP Paul Keetch has been told that a man with no driving license and no car insurance is driving a car with no tax and no MOT around Hereford, with the police unable to stop him.

The MP was told that despite receiving a tip-off, police did not have enough available manpower to apprehend the driver, even when he was driving only yards from a police station.

"You cannot have people with no license and no insurance driving a potentially unsafe car around. It is incredibly dangerous," the MP said.

"The police do a great job, and already have a lot on their plates, but this is something that really needs to be given top priority. I have written to the police about this, we need to come down hard on what I think is the one of the very worst types of dangerous driving."

The reports, which were passed on to Mr Keetch by a constituent, also suggested that the man was driving a car which could in theory reach speeds of around 125mph.

"When the Government is telling us that there are more police than ever on our streets it seems shocking to me that there are not enough officers in Hereford to deal with something like this.

"The police do a fantastic job, but the Government has to make sure that they are in a position to be able to sort things like this out. That means officers out and about, in cars and on foot, and that's what this incident suggests we simply don't have enough of in Herefordshire."