Eight cars seized in Kidderminster vehicle safety operation

Eight cars were seized by police for having either no tax or no insurance during an operation targeting illegal or unroadworthy vehicles in Kidderminster yesterday (Tuesday 7 October).

Multiple motoring offences were identified by officers from Wyre Forest Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) who were joined by officers from West Mercia’s Motorcycle Traffic Support Team (MTST), Operational Policing Unit (OPU) and partner agencies for the morning of action at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) site in Kidderminster.

Motorbike officers and an OPU car pulled over dozens of cars, vans, trucks and lorries which were checked over for their roadworthiness, insecure loads, weight limits, valid MOT and insurance certificates, stolen machinery and trailers and illegal use of red diesel.

The targeted operation was made possible thanks to support from our partners at the DVSA, DVLA, Worcestershire Trading Standards and HMRC.

Of the vehicles stopped, eight cars had no tax, and two of those also had no insurance. All eight were immediately seized by police. One of these cars also had a severely bald tyre and a child incorrectly restrained in the front seat.

Four cars were stopped for having illegal number plates, three for defective tyres, two for excessive window tints, one for being over the weight limit, three had no MOT, one had no brake lights working and one was overloaded. These were dealt with by the DVLA and DVSA.

A van that was illegally using red diesel was dealt with by HMRC.

The morning of action was linked to Op Spotlight, a National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) operation throughout September that focuses on the significant contributory factors the ‘Fatal Four’ have in road traffic collisions highlighting the work that we do every day to tackle these - https://www.westmercia.police.uk/news/west-mercia/news/2025/september/operation-spotlight-highlights-the-fatal-four/

Senior PCSO Andy Stevens, who organised the operation, said: “Yesterday we held another successful multi-agency operation targeting unroadworthy vehicles travelling through Worcestershire.

“We stopped vehicles that were of interest to us, making sure they were in a roadworthy condition and insured for the safety of all road users, with a particular focus on tyre safety, all supporting Operation Spotlight.

“It’s worth saying that drivers caught for offences some people may consider to be minor such as illegally tinted windows are often a gateway to other ‘bigger’ offences which they might be trying to hide from us so that’s why we stop them.

“Drivers with heavily tinted windows are effectively driving like they have sunglasses on at nighttime which is clearly a huge risk to them and other road users.

“Vehicles that are overweight or poorly loaded will have longer braking distances, poorer handling and weakened suspension which could have consequences for other road users if they had to stop suddenly. Stopping these vehicles averts another potentially dangerous situation.

“Our advice to road users is to make sure you are insured, and your vehicle is in a roadworthy condition for everyone’s sake. Please also make sure your tyres are the legal tread depth (1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre) and properly inflated by checking once a week.”