Motorists who use illegal ghost number plates to evade speed cameras and bypass clean-air tolls face having their cars seized on the spot under a swingeing road safety crackdown being prepared by ministers.

Under proposals drawn up by the Department for Transport, the police will be granted immediate powers to confiscate vehicles fitted with stealth plates, bringing the offence into line with the penalties for driving without insurance. Drivers also face receiving up to six penalty points, a threshold that would trigger an automatic ban for newly qualified motorists.

The measures have been prompted by growing alarm among police chiefs and national security officials over the proliferation of highly reflective coatings, altered typography, and cloned registrations. The modifications, which are invisible to the naked eye but render plates unreadable to infra-red speed cameras and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, can be bought online for as little as 30.

Recent enforcement exercises have laid bare the scale of the problem. Data compiled by transport groups suggests that as many as one in 15 vehicles on British roads may now carry plates that are illegible to ANPR networks. During a targeted sweep in London, enforcement officers discovered that 40 per cent of taxi and private hire vehicles stopped displayed illegal plate modifications designed to trick cameras.

Police are concerned that lawbreaking is going unpunished - and want to have greater powers to seize vehicles immediately and dish out fines. The consultation document, of which responses are due to be published this month (August) said: Its harder for police to identify who is using a vehicle because some offenders go to great lengths to hide who owns it or who was driving this makes it harder for the police to keep the public safe and pursue offenders.

There is a significant amount of evidence of disguising a vehicles true ownership to avoid compliance with vehicle excise duty requirements and other payment requirements for the use of certain roads. This places an additional burden on those law-abiding drivers when revenue shortfall to the treasury due to fraud has to be made up.

The police currently have the powers to seize a vehicle from those driving whilst uninsured, or not in accordance with their driving licence. The use of this power has to be proportionate and allows police to use their discretion not to seize where they feel that is an appropriate decision based on the merits of each situation.

Sarah Coombes, the Labour MP for West Bromwich who has campaigned in Parliament for tougher laws, welcomed the consultation. We must close this dangerous loophole, she said. Those who deliberately alter their number plates to evade the law are making a mockery of road safety and placing law-abiding citizens at risk.

At present, drivers caught using ghost plates face only a 100 fine, with no penalty points or driving ban. This makes it less severe than a speeding ticket and does little to discourage reckless drivers or criminals seeking to operate undetected. The West Bromwich MP is calling for tougher penalties, including a 1,000 fine, six penalty points, and potential vehicle seizure.

Ms Coombes said: The scale of the use of ghost plates is not yet widely known, although we do know there are major issues with cloned plates and wider forms of dodgy plates. One study found that as many as one in 15 drivers may already be using anti-ANPR technology, but among some groups it could be even higher.

One police exercise conducted in London examined more than 1,000 taxi and private hire vehicles, and found that 40% of those vehicles had ghost plates.

Ministers warn that the rise of the stealth plate is facilitating a wave of lawlessness, allowing dangerous drivers to run red lights and exceed speed limits with impunity. It is also understood that cloned and modified plates are routinely used by organised crime groups and drug-trafficking syndicates to move across the country undetected.

Introduction of Penalty Points: Driving or being in charge of a vehicle with an incorrect, altered, or false number plate is currently a non-endorsable offence (usually resulting in a 100 fixed penalty notice). The DfT is consulting on making this an endorsable offence, attracting penalty points (proposals range from 3 points up to 6 penalty points for deliberate non-compliance).

Immediate Vehicle Seizure: Police will be granted powers to seize vehicles on the spot if they are found to be fitted with illegal or modified plates, mirroring the enforcement framework used for uninsured motorists.

The outgoing head of the UK's Automatic Number Plate Recognition system revealed how roughly one in 15 drivers were exploiting vulnerabilities in the system, which he described as 'staggeringly simple' to deceive. Professor Fraser Sampson, who was departing from his role as Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner, voiced his concern in a letter to the Transport Secretary about the insufficient action to tackle the issue.

The government plans to fund targeted research and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) systems to automatically identify vehicles displaying illegally modified or cloned plates on the road network.

The British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, which represents legitimate producers, has strongly backed the intervention. Industry figures have warned that the current regulatory regime is too weak, pointing out that there are currently more than 34,000 registered plate sellers in the country, many operating with virtually no oversight from private dwellings.

Under the new plans, the government intends to sharply reduce the number of licensed sellers by introducing annual registration fees and stricter vetting procedures. Furthermore, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is expected to mandate that all future registration marks must be entirely flat, outlawing the raised or embossed lettering often used to create ghost characteristics.

Ms Coombes, welcomed the consultation. We must close this dangerous loophole, she said. Those who deliberately alter their number plates to evade the law are making a mockery of road safety and placing law-abiding citizens at risk.

The proposed changes are being reviewed by the administration, which has pledged to restore order to Britains road network. A DfT spokesperson said: The vast majority of motorists are law-abiding, but they are rightly fed up with a minority who believe they are above the law. Where road users endanger others, their behaviour must have severe consequences.