Road tax evasion has fallen by more than 40% in the last year, statistics published today by the Department for Transport show.

The annual survey showed just one per cent of vehicles are not licensed, compared to 1.7% in 2007, and that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collected an estimated 99.1% of all potential revenue from road tax in 2008.

Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the small minority of motorists who do not tax and insure their cars “are a menace on our roads and are more likely to be involved in wider criminality”.

The DVLA has put in place a package of measures which means that road tax is now easier to pay, but harder to avoid.

These include:

• Making it more convenient to pay road tax with the electronic vehicle licensing service either online or over the telephone.
• Increased enforcement action against untaxed vehicles.
• Introducing powers to wheelclamp and impound evading vehicles stored in certain off-road locations.
• Putting in place a fleet of vehicles and static cameras using ANPR equipment to detect and support enforcement action against users of unlicensed vehicles.
• Working with local authorities and the police who use DVLA powers to operate local wheel clamping schemes.
• Generating approximately one million late-licensing penalties from DVLA records per year.
• Using debt collection agencies to pursue more than 40,000 unpaid debts per month relating to penalities for failing to tax their vehicles on time.