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A Crushing blow for criminals in Northumberland

Northumbria Police

12 March 2009


An operation to target criminals using the roads in Northumberland has led to a landmark 100 drivers having their cars seized in just four months.
Operation Magnitude used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system to target illegal drivers. The hi-tech system scans number plates and matches them against a database to identify suspect vehicles which can then be stopped by an officer.
The operation has been running in Northumberland since November 2008 and since then 100 cars have been seized from roads across the county.  Often vehicles are used as 'pool' cars by a number of criminals and are consequently uninsured. Chief Inspector Simon Packham said "If a car is seized and the owner can produce their insurance and driving licence and pay a release fee, the vehicle will be returned to them. If not, it will be disposed of.
"Of the 100 vehicles we've seized so far; 44 have been disposed of  (crushed), 49 reclaimed by their owners and 7 are pending and awaiting action from their owners
"In running operations such as Magnitude our primary aim is to deter criminals from using the roads of Northumberland.
"We're targeting people who have little regard for the law and whose actions cost law abiding motorists both time and money.
"We have the power to seize vehicles from drivers who do not have insurance or driving licences and we're targeting criminals who are travelling around the roads of Northumberland.
"By taking them off the roads we can both cut crime and improve the safety of other road users and I would encourage anyone who is aware of uninsured vehicles or people driving on the roads without a licence to report them to us"
Owners of seized vehicles have seven working days to produce valid documents and pay the uplift fee of £150 and £20 per day storage costs. If they fail to pay up their vehicle will be crushed.