The Department of the Environment has been made aware that more vehicle registration documents have been stolen in Great Britain.

A spokesperson for the Driver and Vehicle Agency said, "While there is no evidence to suggest that any of these documents have been used in Northern Ireland, potential car buyers here should be vigilant when purchasing a motor vehicle.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea is urging motorists who are actively looking to buy a car to check the serial number that appears at the top right hand corner of the registration certificate (V5C) before purchasing a used vehicle.

If it bears the prefix BG and falls within the range BG 9167501 to BG 91214000, they are advised not to purchase the vehicle."

The spokesperson said there are indications that there are at least several hundred stolen documents in circulation.

These V5C certificates are accompanying stolen vehicles that have had their identity changed to match that of a legitimate vehicle. This practice is known as cloning.

DVLA issued a similar warning in February and is re-issuing the warning following indications that additional stolen documents might be in circulation.

The registration certificates are being used to accompany stolen vehicles that have had their identity changed to match that of a legitimate vehicle.

The cloned vehicles are sold on to unsuspecting members of the public who can suffer significant losses if the vehicles are recovered not least confiscation of the vehicle by PSNI.

These certificates have a different background colour on the Notification of Permanent Export (V5C/4) tear off slip on the second page, which looks mauve on the front and pink on the reverse.

On legitimate documents they should be mauve on both sides.

If members of the public wish to check whether a certificate is genuine, prior to the purchase of a vehicle, they should ring DVLA's helplines on 0870 241 1878.