Suffolk police seize 2,000 vehicles

A Suffolk Police operation to stop people driving illegally saw more than 2,000 vehicles seized in 2008.

A Suffolk Police operation to stop people driving illegally saw more than 2,000 vehicles seized in 2008.

Of the 2,027 vehicles seized during Operation Admiral last year, 1,161 were confiscated due to the driver not having insurance, 157 were seized because of driving licence offences and 709 were taken for both offences.

Seized vehicles were taken to a secure compound and held until the owners produced a valid insurance document and licence, but 67 vehicles were crushed after not being collected.

Officers used intelligence gathering and automatic number plate recog-nition technology, which identifies vehicles without insurance, to target certain vehicles.

Sgt Simon Hobson said: "Operation Admiral aims to specifically target those people who drive without the appropriate legal documents with no regard for the safety of others.

"It is important that we protect those that are using our roads legally. Often the vehicles that are seized are not roadworthy and by removing them from our roads we are helping to reduce potential casualties.

"In our experience there is a link between criminality and offenders who commit vehicle document offences."