POLICE are to carry out a four-day blitz on unlicensed, unroadworthy and dumped vehicles in December.

The crackdown follows a series of complaints by residents and a rise in threats against council staff attempting to penalise unlicensed owners.

A Guardian reporter accompanied police to a crowded car park near a Leyton estate, where it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the cars are either unlicensed, dumped or unroadworthy.

While the area was teeming with vehicles, only a few had up-to-date tax discs.

Some had not been renewed for years and a large number of the cars had smashed windows, punctured tyres and heavily dented bodywork.

During the blitz, police priorities will be to remove the vehicles, clear bad areas, report offenders and make arrests where necessary.

Police believe that they have the support of the public, who consider such vehicles to be an eyesore and are concerned that they attract criminals.

Dumped vehicles in particular attract vandals and could become dangerous playgrounds for children.

If the scheme is successful, the police say that such crackdowns could become a regular occurrence.

PC Ricky Blanks, who is one of the officers leading the blitz next month, promised to hit the criminals hard while acknowledging that targeting them was difficult in the long term.

He said: "We get a lot of complaints from the public about unlicensed, unroadworthy and dumped cars.

"Council officers have also faced threats and intimidation from the owners of these vehicles.

"This is an occasion when we are going to actively look for offenders.

"Usually we don't find out about these people until it's too late and they've been involved in a traffic accident or a driving offence.

"This type of crime has far-reaching consequences and people who drive unlicensed vehicles often do not have MOT or motor insurance either."