Police blitz on dangerous and illegal drivers

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) seized 19 vehicles, prosecuted more than 400 motorists for speeding and seized over £4,000 in outstanding fines in its latest clampdown on dangerous and illegal drivers today (Wednesday 12 September 2012).

Around 60 officers from GMP’s Specialist Operations Branch and North Manchester Division were involved in the day of action that was one of many planned under the Force’s Operation Harvest, which aims to bring a wide range of thieves, thugs and fugitives to justice in the coming months.

Officers used automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to target criminals using the roads, locate wanted offenders and stop vehicles suspected of breaching traffic regulations.

They were supported by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, HM Customs Road Fuel Unit, Taxi Licensing, the Cleaner Emission Unit and Marston's Debt Recovery.

Throughout the day 412 vehicles were stopped on main routes leading into Manchester, with 18 seized for not having a valid licence or insurance and one for being driven in an antisocial manner.

Seven taxis were removed from the roads for not being licensed and 11 prohibition notices were served on vehicles found to be unroadworthy, meaning they must be repaired before being allowed back on the road.

Officers also prosecuted 418 motorists for speeding in a 30mph zone, and arrested three people, one of them for possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply.

In addition, £4,088 was recovered in outstanding fines, 138 fixed penalties were issued to drivers for not wearing seatbelts or using mobile phones, and penalties amounting to £1,820 were imposed on overweight vehicles.

The Road Fuel Unit also stopped 69 vehicles to ensure they weren’t using red diesel.

Inspector Susan Redfern of Greater Manchester Police’s Road Policing Unit said: “Law-abiding motorists should be reassured by the results of today’s action. All this work shows that we are committed to ensuring that the region’s roads are not only safe, but are also not being used by criminals to go about their business.

“People sometimes say that instead of checking vehicles we should be out catching ‘proper criminals’, but research shows that a good proportion of vehicles driven without proper documents are likely to be used in crime, and by impounding them we can disrupt, and sometimes detect, illegal activity.

“We will continue to run operations of this kind to make the roads even safer, and to inconvenience criminals at every opportunity.”