Vehicles seized in Cambridgeshire and Essex rural crime crackdown

More than 50 vehicles were stopped by police during an operation aimed at disrupting rural crime.

Essex and Cambridgeshire's rural police teams worked with the UK National Rural Crime Unit on the borders between the two counties.

The team seized vehicles for not having road tax or insurance, recovered a trailer stolen earlier this year and reported vehicles for being overweight, for not having an MOT and for trailer defects, during a six-hour period on 5 November.

Sgt Tom Nuttall said: "We were able to work with partner enforcement agencies to target drivers that might be involved in rural crime."

Cambridgeshire Police said its aim was to check vehicle identification and compliance, complete high-visibility patrols of road networks and stop vehicles towing to check for stolen agricultural machinery, horseboxes and caravans.

The team also intercepted vehicles travelling on the M11 and escorted them to the Imperial War Museum car park at Duxford.

Checks were carried out by a range of organisations including the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Environment Agency and the Motor Insurance Bureau.

Sgt Nuttall said it was "another successful operation".

"It is important we remove drivers and vehicles off the road which aren't safe and could cause accidents," he said.

"We conduct this operation at various times throughout the year across different locations in Cambridgeshire and will continue to ensure vehicles and drivers are legally safe on the roads and not using them to commit rural crime."