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Stopping criminals on the road

Northumbria Police

11 October 2011


Motorists in Newcastle are being warned that a drive to force criminals off the roads are continuing.
Officers in the west end have teamed up with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the DVLA and Newcastle City Council's environmental services to carry out a series of operations over the past year.
Codenamed Operation Orange, they have taken place each month since October 2010, with the latest checks taking place over two days at Scotswood Road and Benwell Lane.
During this latest operation, ten drivers had to produce their driving documents to a police station within seven days to ensure their legitimacy, while another was given a fixed penalty notice for not wearing a seatbelt.
HMRC fined one motorist £500 for using red diesel, while many items of information and intelligence were gathered by the Neighbourhood Policing Team.
The continuing crackdown is aimed at stopping those suspected of flouting road safety laws, as well as those carrying and disposing of scrap metal. The operations are also used by officers to gather intelligence about those suspected of being involved in other kinds of crime.
During the past year the initiative - organised and run by local officers PCs Michael Gair and Simone Riley - has seen hundreds of vehicles stopped, with four being seized and three arrests made in connection with suspected criminal offences.
There have been more than 20 summons issued for a variety of motoring offences, with around 20 vehicles taken off the road for safety reasons and two on the spot fines for drivers using red diesel.
PC Riley said: "The operations are aimed at targeting criminals on the roads and in turn disrupting criminal activity across the west end, and the city.
"It targets those carrying and disposing of waste, particularly scrap metal, and vehicles which look to be unsafe, and ensures motorists are complying with motoring, safety and waste carrying laws.
"The results of the past year show they operations have been successful in taking unsafe vehicles off the road and targeting those suspected of being involved in crime.
"These operations will continue to take place over the coming months to ensure the safety of law-abiding road users, and to continue to disrupt criminal behaviour.
"These sorts of partnership operations are yet another tool we can use to stop people from travelling around the city committing crime, to gather information and to disrupt their activities."