POLICE and tax officials watched stunned as a white van man smashed up his vehicle on a York street rather than hand it over to road tax enforcers.

Staff from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) were amazed when the furious driver

snatched a spade from his van, smashed its windscreen and rear windows and slashed its tyres.

He then walked off with his passengers in tow.

The motorist was stopped as part of the clampdown on car tax cheats which is being enforced across North Yorkshire by the DVLA and the police.

Officers stopped the white Renault Trafic van in Paragon Street, outside York's Barbican Centre, at about 2pm yesterday. They had noticed that it had no tax disc.

In line with the clampdown, the police informed the driver that his van was to be seized, and the DVLA arrived to take over the case.

Eyewitnesses said the driver, who has not been named, became irate as soon as he was pulled over.

Police and DVLA officers said he poured forth a torrent of abuse, before taking up the spade.

After smashing the windows, he and his passengers, a woman and two children, headed off in the direction of Walmgate Bar.

The driver allegedly shouted "you can have it, then!" as they went.

Lyn Hopkins, spokeswoman for the DVLA, said this kind of incident was not uncommon, although no similar events had been recorded in York.

"A lot of people get upset when they realise they have been caught," said Lyn.

"We have known people chain their cars to trees, or fill them with cement, in an effort to get away from the clamp.

"They seem to think that if they damage the car and leave it, that's all there is to it and they don't have to pay anything. But that's not the case.

"The truth is, we will pursue this person for all the back duty that is owed since the last time they actually paid their road tax. "There really is no getting away from it."

A DVLA officer at the scene, who asked not be named, said: "It was all a bit dramatic - some people really just don't like having their car taken away."

York police confirmed that an investigation into the incident was under way, while the DVLA said the van had been impounded.

Spot checks in the county will continue into next week.

Updated: 10:57 Wednesday, July 04, 2001