Dangerous vehicles have been taken off the road in a crackdown in Kirklees.
The cars included two taxis, after both were found to be unfit to be on the road.
Many other drivers were warned about the state of their vehicles and told to fix faults immediately.
The night-time enforcement exercise was aimed at ensuring that vehicles were fit to be on the road took place in Ravensthorpe.
Officers from Kirklees Council’s licensing department teamed up with colleagues from West Yorkshire Police, Her Majestys Revenue & Customs (HRMC) and the Vehicle Operators Standard Agency (VOSA) and the team stopped 35 vehicles of which 26 were private hire vehicles.
Of the privately owned cars that were inspected, police seized one vehicle for no insurance and unsafe parts. They also handed out traffic offence reports (endorsable tickets) to three vehicles, and issued five Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme (VDRS) notices.
A VDRS notice means defects need to be fixed as soon as possible and suitable evidence provided within 14 days. Failure to do so could lead to prosecution, points and a fine.
The vast majority of offences were for lighting and tyre defects.
One vehicle was towed away after VOSA stated that it was unroadworthy as the front nearside wheel was about to fail which may have caused serious injury to the owner/driver and other road users.
Some 26 private hire vehicles were checked and two were taken off the road; one for exposed tyre cords and the other for the front grille being in dangerous condition.
Twelve delayed licence suspensions were handed out – six for not having a fire extinguisher, three for having tyres close to legal limit, one for not displaying a door sign and two for having defective lights.
Twelve of the private hire vehicles were found to have no defects or breaches of licensing conditions.
Insp Tim Holland said: “The results from the operation are encouraging and should reassure the public that taxis and private hires in Kirklees are generally fit for purpose and most importantly safe. “We will continue to work in partnership with our colleagues from the council, VOSA and HRMC to carry out similar activity in the future”
Catherine Walters, Kirklees Council Licensing Manager said: “I’m pleased to see the checking of taxi and private hire vehicles has been a success. They are vitally important to make sure everyone stays safe and I look forward to more such operations happening again in other parts of the district.”
