Operation Collusion success

Drivers were asked to enter a road check area near Flimwell crossroads where further investigation could be made on their vehicles.

Operation Collusion was run by police officers from West Kent with colleages from Sussex Police, and targeted the A21 at Hurst Green, the A28 at Northiam, the A229 to Hawkhurst and the A26.

This joint initiative is part of a concerted effort by both forces to reduce burglaries and promote road safety in their respective districts, as officers believe that criminals are travelling between the counties.

Over 100 vehicles were stopped by officers during the four-day operation and entered the road check bays.

As a result two men were arrested on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, two vehicles were seized for no insurance and one driver was identified as having outstanding non-payment of court fines.

In addition, a Hastings man was stopped on the A21 and arrested for driving whilst disqualified and recalled to prison for breaching an order. He was wanted in connection with a number of burglaries in the area.

Also picked out was a Cranbrook man who was arrested on suspicion of driving offences, and a local male was arrested for possession of a quantity of class B drugs following ANPR activation which resulted in class B drugs being recovered with a street value of around 5000.

A number of fixed penalty notices and vehicle defect rectification notices were issued by the officers.

Specialist officers from both forces, including dog handlers and traffic patrols, were part of the team carrying out the operation.

District Commander Chief Inspector Heather Keating said: "Criminals do not respect police boundaries and this operation showed that if police forces work together we can deny criminals the use of our roads, catch offenders travelling from one county to commit crime in another and develop our intelligence and working relationships to reduce and detect crime. We want to reassure our rural communities that we will take positive action to keep them safe."