RECORDING vehicle mileage information on registration documents in a bid to beat car clocking has moved a stage nearer following a Government announcement. Shadow transport minister Bernard Jenkin asked in the House of Commons what plans the Government had for including the mileage details on registration documents.

Glenda Jackson, transport minister, responded: 'We are committed to providing the public with more information about second hand cars and, as part of the initiative to reduce vehicle crime, we are considering how best to introduce a scheme for the compulsory inclusion of mileage information on vehicle documents.'

This comes just a short time after the Government revealed plans for a new database to contain all mileage information. This would be updated when cars were serviced or had an MoT, and stored at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. This is a similar scheme to one run by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association which set up its own database in 1995, run by Vehicle Mileage Check, to gather fleet cars' end-of-contract mileage.

This has attracted support from all the major contract hire companies, including GE Capital Fleet Services and Lex Vehicle Leasing, and it now contains mileage details on 1.5 million cars. And the possible inclusion of mileage details on the registration document has also been welcomed by the Retail Motor Industry Federation.

The Office of Fair Trading has launched its own crackdown on car dealers clocking cars, and is threatening to withdraw consumer credit licences. The licences are issued by the OFT and are a legal requirement for anyone dealing in consumer credit or credit brokerage.