4:10pm Sunday 31st August 2008
By Gina Bebbington
A MOTORIST from Northwich was horrified to hear his car was in an accident in London, when it has never been out of Cheshire.
Bus driver Ray Smith got a letter from an insurance company earlier this month and a week later was asked to pay a £120 parking fine from Barking.
The 50-year-old, from Hatton Lane, said he must be a victim of car registration cloning as on the two dates in question his car was parked at Arriva, in Winsford, where he works.
He said: “The first one was a letter from an insurance company down in London saying I’d been involved in a road traffic accident and they needed details.
“I said my car has never gone any further than Crewe.”
The company sent an engineer to look at the car and confirmed there was no sign of damage and it had not been involved in an accident.
Ray contacted Northwich Police about the parking fine and they told him he needs to prove he was at work, which he is doing.
He said: “Just think how many people there are in Cheshire who may have cars that have been cloned down in London.
“It only comes to light because they’ve been involved in an offence.
“Mine’s only a parking fine but what happens if someone uses a cloned car in ram raid or a hit and run?”
A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “We are aware that cloning of licence plates and theft of licence plates is a growing issue.
“Sadly it’s also one that’s very difficult to legislate against as plates can be cloned and used all over the country.
“If anyone does feel their vehicle licence plate has been cloned we would urge them to get in touch with police as soon as possible – to not only report the cloning but also we may be able to assist in liason with other forces.”
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