A CRACKDOWN on dumped vehicles has been launched across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Keith Hill, Minister for Urban Policy, said the aim was to clear the streets and reverse the growing trend of cars being illegally abandoned.

The number of vehicles dumped in the region has doubled in three years to nearly 16,000.

Now local authorities will be given new powers to remove untaxed and unregistered vehicles from streets and public places, and to fine offenders.

More than 300,000 vehicles were abandoned nationwide every year, acting as a magnet for crime, anti-social behaviour and arson, said Mr Hill.

A further 1m were uninsured and untaxed for more than three months and with no current keeper and were likely to be abandoned in the future.

In Yorkshire and Humber the number rose from 7,900 in 2000/2001 to 12,700 the following year and to 15,700 in 2002/2003.

Mr Hill said: "Nuisance vehicles, whether abandoned, untaxed or unlicensed, blight neighbourhoods across the country.

"They damage our environment and our communities, and they attract criminal damage, vandalism and arson. They also divert public money from other important local services.

"The Government is committed to ridding the streets of this eyesore."

Encams - the charity behind the Keep Britain Tidy campaign - is supporting the Government drive and in January will be working with more than 130 councils on a campaign to remove unwanted vehicles free of charge.

Investigating and removing nuisance vehicles currently costs local authorities across the country £26m annually.

Vehicle arson costs £230m a year to clean up.

Failure to tax vehicles adds up to a £93m bill in lost revenue. Unlicensed and uninsured drivers are estimated to add £30 to every motor insurance policy.

The head of traffic and road safety at the RAC Foundation for Motoring, Kevin Delaney, said: "Illegally abandoned cars are not only an eyesore, an environmental and social problem, they are a potential death-trap for children who play in and around them.

"People who abandon cars in public places show a callous disregard not only for the law, but for all of us who have to confront the result of their grossly anti-social behaviour."