POLICE and council officers have joined forces to crack down on people offering unlicensed ‘lifts’ for money over social media.

On one weekend last month, 125 vehicles were stopped and checked at Horseshoe Common with “a number of them” providing an informal taxi service, members of Bournemouth council’s licensing board were told.

Concerns have been raised about the risks of using unlicensed and unvetted lift services, prompting the holding of joint operations between the council and Dorset Police in December.

Earlier this year, the police issued a warning about the potential dangers of using such services.

“We are aware of several Facebook groups which have been created in order to share lifts in and around the Bournemouth and Poole area,” they said.

“When getting into a vehicle with an unlicensed and unvetted stranger, you have no knowledge of their background and risk your own personal safety.”

People offering lifts for money were also warned that it could invalidate their insurance or result in police taking action against the driver.

Bournemouth council’s licensing board and its licensing officers have also highlighted the issue, prompting last month’s operation.

Speaking at the committee’s meeting, council licensing manager Nananka Randle said that checks had been carried out over two weekends in December at Horseshoe Common with future operations planned.

“We did an operation with Dorset Police on the weekend of December 8 and 9 and 125 vehicles were stopped,” she said.

“We can’t say all of them were giving lifts but certainly a number of them were.

“They have all been issued with a warning letter outlining the risks to the drivers, that they are putting themselves at risk, as well as putting their own [driving] licence at risk.”

One of the vehicles checked by police was uninsured while another had no valid MOT.

“Certainly the people that were spoken to, the younger people, were completely panic-stricken that their parents would take their car rights away, how it would affect their insurance,” Ms Randle added.

Licensing board chairman Cllr Andrew Morgan welcomed the work and said that the council would not “turn a blind eye” to the issues.

“I welcome the work that’s been done and hope we can continue on with the enforcement because I do think we are about one accident away from a potential disaster,” he said.

“We are not turning a blind eye to this but I do know, in terms of budget, that it is difficult to keep up with enforcement but it is the feeling of this board that we should be doing as much as we can.”