Drivers must beware the attack of the clones

People looking to buy a used car have been warned about the dangers of cloned vehicles.

According to motoring information company HPI Limited, the Department for Transport's decision to update the vehicle registration document will eventually help to protect consumers from cloning, but in the short term could actually make the problem worse.

Criminals use stolen registration documents could sell cloned cars to unsuspecting buyers, and as the existing forms are phased out cloners will be trying desperately to use the stolen ones they already have, according to HPI's consumer service manager Nicola Johnson.

She added: "Car cloning is a serious problem that all buyers should be concerned about.

"Initiatives such as this, coupled with greater consumer awareness, will stop car criminals looking to make some quick money dead in their tracks."

HPI recently teamed up with Lancashire police to bring down a cloning ring and recover 16 cloned vehicles.