Uniformed bailiffs will target fine-dodgers in a bid to collect the £13.6 million owed in West Yorkshire.

New powers will allow bailiffs to search suspected defaulters and their homes, under a massive nationwide crackdown launched yesterday.

Ministers hope they will track down and collect Court fines outstanding for a raft of offences, including speeding, assault and theft.

Between April and December last year, £8.6 million of new fines were imposed by West Yorkshire courts, with £5.1 million - or 75 percent - paid, peaking at 91 percent for the month of December.

The payment rate has soared from 55 per cent in 2003. But, including fines imposed in previous years, local courts are owed £13.6m in total.

The newly-formed National Enforcement Agency will be created from existing court enforcement officers and private bailiff firms contracted on behalf of magistrates' courts. Bailiffs will have access to the Police National Computer to help them locate fine-dodgers and criminals who jump bail.

A Department of Constitutional Affairs spokesman said: "They will look almost like police or community support officers in the fact that they will wear uniformed jackets.

"They will be clearly identifiable. It a good way to get away from the sluggish perception of bailiffs."

Ministers have also suggested that fines dodgers will face a wide range of penalties in the future, including vehicle clamping, docking of benefits or wages, or blacklisting credit companies. Across England and Wales, £210m of new fines were imposed and £168m paid - a collection rate of 80 per cent. But in total, £403m remained unpaid. Last year, the Government launched Operation Pay Back which has so far netted £2.5m in outstanding fines, while in January Operation Turn Up was launched to track down bail jumpers.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said: "People who don't pay their fines or turn up at court clog up the criminal justice system and are a drain on our police resources. By targeting the hard core of problem offenders the National Enforcement Service will ensure that justice is done and that criminals pay for their crimes."

Courts Minister Chris Leslie, the Shipley MP, said: "Fines and community penalties are a credible sentencing option but unless they're properly enforced they will not be taken seriously by victims and the public."

The new agency is the first significant step in bringing the magistrates' courts system more tightly under Government control.

Next month, Magistrates' Courts Committees across the country will lose their independence and come under the control of a newly created HM Courts Service.