Changes to road tax regulations

I just stumbled upon this by accident.  It seems that this amendment has gone through with very little publicity.  The key point is that there is now an officially recognized 5-day grace period for the display of a new tax disk, so long as you continue to display the expired disk and have applied for renewal on or before the due date.

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/280808_09.aspx

This police website appears to contain a longer announcement from DVLA, but I cannot locate the source on the DVLA website itself:

http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/information/InfoCentre/ItemDetails.aspx?sid=936#4

Way back in the 1960s and early 70s, before all these new fangled database thingies, a bit of paper with "Tax in Post" used to work for months...

Still did that in the early 1980s.....   

But the days of officer discretion and common sense seem to be over now, especially when there's a chance to increase H.M. coffers with a fine.