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VOSA insists that O-licence scams such as one that led to convictions last year for two bogus transport consultants are not more difficult to detect now that each Traffic Area's licensing functions are processed in Leeds.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that Scottish Traffic Commissioner  Joan Aitken questioned if a centralised team of VOSA staff would pick up on sophisticated fraudulent activity that eventually led to the jailing of John Plummeridge and a suspended sentence for Philip Cameron (CM 11 December 2008).

Deputy TC Chris Heaps later said that "an astute member of staff" in his office had picked up on suspicious-looking bank statements, which sparked an investigation. He also described the "foolishness" of VOSA proposals to destroy bank statements after 12 months.

TC Aitken said: "That case also illustrates the need for good document retentionThe [VOSA] Board and the project managers have to test themselves - if these files had been processed centrally, would the centralised team identify what was identified by the SEMTA Commissioner and staff working together?"

However, Vosa claims its new system will spot similar crimes: "The procedures for application processing remained unchanged following centralisation," says a spokeswoman. "As  technology improves the procedures for vetting applications are constantly changing and it is always good to look at lessons learned following such cases. Original documentation is now required for all applications and these documents, once checked, are returned to the applicant after the licence has been granted. Scanned images are kept securely on record for later referral as necessary."