By Belinda Nolan
Officers were out in force on Station Rd on Thursday as part of an operation to crack down on illegal drivers.
Police used state-of-the-art Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) machines to detect unlicensed or disqualified drivers, as well as unregistered driving.
Launched last month, the ANPR machines rapidly scan numberplates to detect unauthorised drivers in a bid to take them off the road.
The new machines will be deployed across the state, after police intelligence revealed unauthorised drivers are at an increased risk of road trauma.
In 2008, almost 13 per cent of all Victorian road fatalities involved illegal drivers.
Each machine is fitted to an unmarked van and linked to a number plate information data base, with 10 ANPR systems set to be on the road this summer.
The systems will be placed in areas identified as high risk for road trauma and will patrol the streets day and night.
