CRIMINALS using the county's roads were given a stark warning that their actions will not be tolerated during a thorough police operation today.

Ken McErlain

CRIMINALS using the county's roads were given a stark warning that their actions will not be tolerated during a thorough police operation today.

Officers from Suffolk Police were joined by their counterparts from Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire as part of Operation Utah.

As part of the operation - the fist of its kind in the county - officers monitored key roads using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology and pulled aside scores of vehicles.

They were joined by representatives from the DVLA, HM Revenue and Customs and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).

The groups set up a special site at the Whitehouse Industrial Estate in Ipswich and spent the day inspecting vehicles which had been identified by the ANPR teams.

The Operation saw dozens of vehicles escorted off the roads and inspected for a range of potential offences.

Chief Inspector Mike Bacon from Suffolk Constabulary's Road Policing Unit said: “It's been a very thorough operation.

“Today has shown how important a role modern technology plays in catching criminals - ANPR allows us to target suspicious vehicles immediately.”