A woman was left stranded when she found her car being clamped and taken away by tax-cheat investigators.

Police and Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) officers patrolled Brighton and Hove yesterday targeting untaxed vehicles.

They spotted the woman's car in Fourth Avenue, Hove, and she had to clear out the vehicle of belongings she needed before it was loaded onto a lorry.

Offenders have to pay a fine before getting their vehicles back.

If they don't pay, the cars are crushed.

PC Bryan Huberman was accompanying DVLA officers in the city this week. He said: "This is an on-going operation and not just against tax cheats.

"We are coming across several motorists who have no licences or insurance."

Earlier this year 267 untaxed vehicles were clamped and removed from the road.

Drivers have to pay £200 to have a clamped vehicle released and any unclaimed, unlicensed vehicle is crushed within 14 days.

Sussex Police stepped up their enforcement activities in February and carried out roadside checks to ensure vehicles were displaying a valid tax disc.

They also checked vehicles for other road safety and motoring offences, such as no insurance or no MOT certificate.

Of the 267 vehicles clamped and removed by the DVLA, 175 were in Brighton and Hove, 17 in Shoreham, 34 in Crawley, 22 in Eastbourne and 19 in Worthing.

PC Huberman said: "There is no hiding place for road tax cheats.

"If your tax disc is not up to date, we will find you."

Seven people were arrested in February for a variety of motoring offences and 22 fixed penalty notices were issued.

PC Huberman said: "Each agency carries out its respective role but we work extremely well together.

"This partnership will continue and I will issue the same warning as I did before: Get your vehicle taxed before we catch up with you."