Lamborghini among 160,000 cars seized as uninsured driving peaks

Nearly 160,000 uninsured cars were seized on the UK's roads last year - the highest number for 17 years.

The cost of cover was one of the main factors for those flouting the law, according to the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB), which estimates about 300,000 cars are being driven every day without insurance.

Hot spot areas include Birmingham, which has five out of the top 15 postcodes in the UK for accidents involving uninsured drivers.

In one police operation earlier this month, West Midlands Police took 16 vehicles off the road for being uninsured - including a Lamborghini.

Uninsured driving is estimated to cost the UK economy £1bn every year. The figure includes compensation for victims, emergency services, medical costs and loss of productivity.

The MIB said someone in the UK was affected by uninsured or hit-and-run drivers every 20 minutes, with one person each day suffering life-altering injuries.

The Birmingham postcodes which account for the five hot spots are B25, B18, B66, B21 and B35.

Other postcodes in the top 10 included Thurrock's RM19 in Essex, PE1 in Peterborough, M18 in Manchester, Havering's RM1 in London and Belfast's BT17.

Hayley Sutcliffe, from the MIB, said: "It's a diverse area so people coming into the country might not know the laws and the legislation of the Road Traffic Act.

"We need to raise awareness around when people need to have the correct level of cover of insurance."

Operation Scalis is run by the MIB in conjunction with police forces across the country to tackle the rising issue of uninsured drivers.

In the past five years, the number of cars taken off the roads has risen by nearly 20%, from 132,435 to 158,594.

It is not just old bangers police pull over.

A Mercedes and BMW were seized and towed away during the recent operation in Birmingham, and a few days later so was the Lamborghini, which the driver was using without insurance.

The organisation said uninsured vehicles and their drivers were more likely to be involved in secondary offences like driving while disqualified or be under the influence of drink and drugs.

Officers also found several empty gas canisters, with mouthpieces on, inside another vehicle when it was stopped.

They also stopped cars with faults including bald tyres, illegally tinted windows and broken seat belts.

Sgt Adrian Brown, of West Midlands Police, said: "A lot of people just own up to it and say 'I couldn't afford it' or 'I haven't passed my driving test'.

"I think the other reason around this criminal aspect is they're trying to hide the identity of the car."

The cost of car insurance has also led to what is known as "fronting", where older members of a family insure a young person's car to reduce premiums, a type of fraud which means vehicles and their drivers are not properly covered.