FLEETS disposing of vehicles direct through forecourts have been warned to make sure their cars have a valid MoT certificate and are ready for the road or they could be seized and even crushed by Trading Standards officers. European legislation has allowed officers to visit forecourts and carry out safety audits on vehicles and either take cars off sale or order them to be confiscated or destroyed.

Among vehicles under threat are any fleet cars over three years old displayed without an MoT. The Institute of Trading Standards (ITSA) has found that a third of vehicles it inspected on forecourts did not have MoTs, yet 80% of them would have been allowed out on the road for test drives. The findings were revealed in a report called 'Coffins on Wheels' an investigation into forecourts throughout the country by ITSA members.

It also showed that a fifth of cars were so dangerous they should not have been on sale. The research covered more than 40 vehicles priced between £1,000 and £7,000. A spokesman was unable to confirm the age of vehicles which were dangerous, but said that fleets disposing of cars through forecourt operations had to be on their guard.