MORE than one in ten used cars sold from North Yorkshire forecourts are defective, new figures show.

Agencies from across the county have joined forces to ensure that second-hand cars sold by traders are safe to drive.

But officers involved in the operation have put the brakes on the sale of 11 per cent of the vehicles they inspected.

Operation Daley is the latest Government Agency Intelligence Network (GAIN) project. It started last September and brought together North Yorkshire Police, trading standards officers from City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council, the Vehicle Inspectorate and the Benefits Agency.

The officers assessed the roadworthiness of used vehicles on retail forecourts and other outlets over a period of six months.

Stuart Benson, principal trading standards officer at City of York Council, said: "The results have given us cause for concern. We hope that this exercise will serve as a reminder to the motor trade that vehicles supplied to consumers must be in safe condition."

Stuart Pudney, of North Yorkshire County Council's trading standards department, added: "The purpose of this initiative is to safeguard the consumer and road users in general."

"Trading standards teams nationally receive about 700 complaints per year about the safety of second-hand motor vehicles and these figures are echoed in our region."

Updated: 09:39 Thursday, April 04, 2002