Seventeen people were caught evading road tax in a roadside blitz in Oxford.

Thames Valley Police and Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) enforcement officers launched the 90-minute operation in Garsington Road, Cowley, yesterday morning.

The blitz, which both partners said was successful, is the latest stage in an ongoing joint campaign against the estimated 59,000 road tax evaders in the Thames Valley, who cost the country 7.8m in lost revenue.

Of the offenders stopped yesterday, three were clamped because their tax discs were so far out of date, and 13 others, whose tax expired more recently, were booked by the DVLA officers.

They will be sent forms requiring them to get an up-to-date disc and may be fined.

Those clamped were required to pay £68 to get their car released, and a further £100 as a surety against getting a new disc. The £100 fee will be refunded as long as they provide a valid disc within 14 days.

DVLA enforcement manager Julie Lewis said: "It has been very successful. A considerable number have been stopped and we have clamped three who had failed to heed the warnings.

"Thirteen have been booked and these will be taken forward by the local offices.

"Hopefully, others will now heed the warning and go and buy their tax, which brings better road safety.

"We are not out to wheelclamp as many as we can, it's to induce people to go out and tax their vehicles."

Sgt Eddie Lord, of Thames Valley Police, said: "It went very well, better than we expected. We had one fail to stop, and one on a pushbike who was wanted on a warrant, who we lost, but it highlights to people who pay their tax that others will pay theirs eventually."

A DVLA said tax disc applications had gone up in the Thames Valley since the campaign started earlier this month.