Convicted kerb crawlers caught in Ilford Lane could be banned from the road and have their cars crushed.

Convicted kerb crawlers caught in Ilford Lane could be banned from the road and have their cars crushed.

Calls have been made for police and the justice system to use powers to seize vehicles and impose disqualifications for criminals caught soliciting in the borough.

Deputy leader Cllr Wes Streeting said authorities had to send a “stern message” to offenders caught kerb crawling.

Speaking at a policing and crime roadshow at Redbridge Town Hall last week, Cllr Streeting said: “I wonder what more we can do, through the police and criminal justice system, to send a stern message – to seize the cars of kerb crawlers and have them crushed.

“We are not going to tolerate it on our streets.”

Assistant commissioner for territorial policing in the Met, Deputy Chief Constable Helen King, said officers had been briefed to ask for disqualifications and car seizures to be put in place, but the Met needed to review whether orders were being put in place.

Ms King said reports the number of prostitutes working in the area had decreased was also a “good sign”.

Deputy mayor for policing and crime Stephen Greenhalgh said: “I completely agree with [Cllr Streeting] about tackling these kerb crawlers head on. Crushing their cars? I wish we could go further.”

He warned against displacing the problem to other areas, but Ilford Lane residents said they should have the “same right”.

“We’ve got to put up with the mess so other people don’t have it? We have the same right,” said one Ilford Lane resident.

Stronger measures to tackle kerb-crawling came into effect in April 2010, as part of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.

CPS guidelines state prosecutors should consider driving bans and vehicle seizures in “appropriate cases”.