LONDON • Some owners of speedy Porsche cars in Britain are in no great hurry to pay road tax.

Hundreds of the drivers of the German brand, plus others of the most expensive cars driven on Britain's roads, had their wheels clamped in the past year for not paying road tax.

Figures revealed on Wednesday by Britain's Driver and Vehicle Licence Agency (DVLA) showed that Porsche was the No. 1 prestige car brand that broke the tax rule.

Almost 350 prestige cars in total were red-flagged, including 199 Porches, 28 Abarths, 23 Maseratis, 20 Bentleys and even a Hummer.

Many of the vehicles had price tags running into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the last financial year, DVLA said 133,000 vehicles were clamped for evading tax.

Taking the top spots overall were the most popular makes and models on British roads, with 6,000 each of the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra.

Also clamped were 73 London Taxis, five Harley-Davidson motorcycles, four motorhomes and a bus.

Silver-coloured vehicles took the top spot, with more than 32,000 clamped, 2,000 more than the year before.

Black vehicles just pipped blue ones to second place while 690 gold vehicles were also recorded.

All vehicles need to pay road tax and the amount varies depending on engine size and type of engine.

DVLA's senior enforcement leader Bethan Beasley said: "These figures show that it doesn't matter what type of vehicle you own, whether it's a sports car, motorhome or even a bus. If you don't (pay) tax, we'll clamp it."

The agency has the power to impound clamped vehicles if owners still do not pay the tax and a release fine.

XINHUA