DRIVERS are being warned about a new DVLA car tax email scam.

The warning comes after a Northumberland resident received a convincing email purporting to be from the DVLA claiming the recipient’s latest vehicle tax payment had failed.

The email stated: “Your latest vehicle tax payment failed. It appears that some of the billing details associated with you might have expired or were otherwise changed. Our system will automatically retry the billing process once your billing details have been updated.

“It can take up to five working days for the records to update. In order to continue to the update page, please use the following link.”

To alarm the recipient and try and prompt them to act quickly the email then went on to warn: “If you do not pay your vehicle tax on time you can be fined up to £1,000, or your details passed to a debt collection agency.”

Previous DVLA scams have targeted members of the public through texts and telephone calls requesting bank details to refund an overpaid car tax bill.

Philip Soderquest, head of housing and public protection at Northumberland County Council said: “We are urging residents to be extra vigilant when passing on their details to a third party. If you get anything like this, you are advised not to open any of the links and to delete the email or text immediately.”