Police checkpoints net driving offenders

Thousands of cars were checked in a traffic operation aimed at taking travelling thieves off the roads.
A team of more than 20 police officers mounted Operation Redcarpet during the weekend, which saw checkpoints set up around one of the busiest routes through the region.

Cars which passed through the monitors around Dalton Park, off the A19 at Murton, had their number plates scanned by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems.

Any cars which were flagged up by the equipment were then pulled over and checked.

Two thousand cars passed through the posts on Saturday, triggering the ANPR equipment 181 times, with a further 126 alerts recorded yesterday as a further 1,500 vehicles passed through the locations.

Inquiries led to six cars seized for being driven without insurance and other motoring offences, including driving without a licence.

One man was arrested for driving while disqualified.

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “This was launched to target travelling criminals who strike on the coast of East Durham, and Seaham in particular, and aimed to reassure retailers and shoppers in the area that there are efforts by police to make is a safe place to visit and work.”

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