The DVLA is being urged to close a legal loophole which allows thousands of motorists to unwittingly buy potentially dangerous vehicles.

Universal Salvage wants the DVLA to stop the 'no questions asked' practise of issuing duplicate log books (V5 registration documents), because it allows write-offs to be put back on the roads. The duplicates are also implicated in 'ringing' and 'cloning', where stolen vehicles are given new identities, often taken from already scrapped vehicles.

Universal Salvage says that while the loophole will be addressed in 2003 with the introducton of Vehicle Identity Checks (VICs) for repaired insurance write-offs, inspections will be confined to confirming vehicle IDs, not whether they are safe.

“The DVLA's willingness to issue replacement V5s is a vital part of the system that, as it stands, makes dubious practices too easy. We want concerted action by the Government, insurance companies, salvage operators and vehicle repairers to close all the loopholes,” said Universal Salvage director Ian Gaskin.