SUFFOLK police has netted a £65,000 cash boost from the ill-gotten gains of the country's criminals.The money has been seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and will now be ploughed back into the force.

SUFFOLK police has netted a £65,000 cash boost from the ill-gotten gains of the country's criminals.

The money has been seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and will now be ploughed back into the force.

Across Britain, a record £84 million has been recovered during the last year, the Home Office has announced.

And in a boost to funding, police forces across the country are for the first time to receive a £13 million share of the recovered money, including £65,648 for Suffolk Constabulary.

Suffolk's assistant chief constable Colin Langham-Fitt said: "This money is a proportion of that seized by Suffolk Constabulary as a direct result of operations targeted to deprive offenders of the profits of their criminal activity.

"The money will be reinvested into further operations designed to investigate, detect and recover the proceeds of crime."

Labour's Chris Mole, MP for Ipswich, who supported the introduction of the act, said: "This law sends a clear message to criminals that crime doesn't pay.

"It encourages the police to recover criminal assets and clamp down on long-term criminal profiteering, because the more they recover, the more they will get back for front-line policing in Suffolk."

Ian Pells, of Suffolk Crown Prosecution Service, said there were 31 cases where money has been taken from criminals in 2004/2005.

He said: "The act has proved to be an excellent tool in tackling those who benefit from a criminal lifestyle.

"The hard work that ourselves and Suffolk Constabulary have undertaken has seen the number of convictions rise year on year."