The number of car tax dodgers caught on a Sussex housing estate in one day has set a national record.

Inspectors from the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency spent a week scouring east Brighton.

They were accompanied by police and council staff as they checked streets in Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk, the Bates estate, Manor Farm and Saunders Park.

The team slapped tickets on untaxed vehicles, which could lead to fines of up to £1,000, while unregistered cars were towed away and crushed.

DVLA officers said they caught a record 180 car tax dodgers on the first day of the operation on the Whitehawk estate.

More than 500 motorists were reported for having untaxed vehicles during the five-day blitz.

Sergeant Tony Lumb told the Whitehawk Crime Prevention Forum on Wednesday: "We should not be proud of that. Seventy-six of them were towed away, the ones whose owners could not be traced."

The DVLA has vowed to return to east Brighton to check on vehicles at least once every two months. It is also set to tour the streets of Hollingdean in the next few months.

The operation was launched at the request of residents who were concerned about the number of untaxed and illegal cars on their streets.