A COVERT operation monitoring private hire vehicles in Watford has identified a driver from another borough operating in the town.

Officers from Watford Borough Council's licensing team and western area road policing unit, supported by the town centre CCTV team, undertook the latest in a series of operations to detect illegal plying for hire by unlicensed drivers and vehicles operating within the town centre.

They monitored a number of private hire vehicles, with the result that one private hire vehicle licensed by Three Rivers District Council was intercepted.

The driver was found to have insufficient insurance to undertake the work it had been engaged in and the vehicle was seized by police officers using new powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988.

The driver who admitted he was not even working for a licensed operator at the time he was stopped - now faces prosecution for plying for hire and operating a motor vehicle with insufficient insurance, as well as the costs of recovering his vehicle.

Councillor Rabi Martins, chairman of the licensing committee at Watford Borough Council, said: "While it is a shame that once again some private hire drivers have not listened to the message from our officers that plying for hire is against the law, I am pleased that the council and the police have once again worked in partnership, using new approaches and techniques to try and end this potential risk to public safety.

"I am also very perturbed that the majority of vehicles that breach our rules tend to be licensed by other local authorities, such as Three Rivers Council or Hertsmere Borough Council.

"I would like to think that the licensing authorities take as dim a view as Watford Borough Council does of vehicles it licenses deliberately working outside the law."