Uninsured drivers will be driven off the roads by a new police campaign in London.

The Metropolitan Police traffic unit will train officers to spot illegal vehicles.

Cars with no Car Insurance in place will be seized, and drivers hit with a £120 fine and six penalty points on their licence. Vehicles not collected within a week will be crushed.

“Uninsured drivers are a danger to all road users,” said the traffic unit’s Chief Superintendent David Snelling. “Each and every one of my traffic officers has seen first hand the long lasting and real pain caused by uninsured drivers who have been involved in fatal collisions.”

London police seized almost 13,000 uninsured vehicles between January and November 2007. Automatic Number Plate Recognition, a system which checks number plates against vehicle databases, was used to identify illegal cars.

Plate recognition is currently available in Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing, Lewisham, Hillingdon and Brent, and will now be extended across London.

“We are going to see more illegal drivers being caught this year,” said the Mayor’s Road Safety Ambassador Jenny Jones.