Vehicle information provider HPI has teamed up with consumer protection agency Trading Standards to help combat the problem of "clocking" amongst used car retailers.
Clocking is the practice of removing mileage from the odometers of cars.
HPI said the Office of Fair Trading had estimated the cost of clocking to the used car retail industry at £100m per year, making it one of the biggest threats to the reputation of the retailer.
The vehicle history provider said use of its National Mileage Register (NMR), which holds over 52 million mileage readings, had already helped to secure several convictions against used car dealers.
HPI added that the NMR had helped Trading Standards Officers in Hertfordshire to secure the highest ever penalty for car clocking: Richard Sherriffs was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison after taking 3.6 million miles off the odometers of 74 cars.
The NMR check compares the mileage reading supplied against the information held on the register and highlights any discrepancies. HPI said the latest statistics from the register indicated that one in twelve vehicles had a mileage discrepancy which needed further investigation.
HPI's own database of UK vehicles contains over 60 million vehicle descriptions and histories.
