Motorcheck.ie has issued a warning to used car buyers, to be on the look-out for used cars being sold with a fake NCT certificate. The alert comes after 850 certificates were stolen during a raid on the NCT test centre in Drogheda.

Commenting on the theft Motorcheck.ie Co-Founder Shane Teskey said, "Unscrupulous sellers will use a fake NCT Certificate, to try and mislead potential buyers, into believing that a car being offered for sale conforms to the minimum safety standards set out by the Road Safety Authority, when it may actually be completely unsafe and dangerous to take on the road".

Motorcheck.ie offers consumers a free update service on its website, where consumers are able to verify the NCT certificate number against the official records available from Motorcheck. A fake certificate will be highlighted as "No Match", in which case buyers are advised to contact their local Garda office or Motorcheck.ie directly.