Thetford police day of action sees over 30 vehicles stopped in a bid to reduce number of serious collisions and disrupt organised crime groups

Over 30 vehicles were stopped by police in Thetford in an operation to reduce the number of serious collisions and disrupt organised crime groups operating on road networks.

As part of the Roads Policing Action Day on Tuesday, vehicles were guided from the area into a check site where they were assessed by officers and offences were identified.

37 vehicles were stopped in the day, including cars, light goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles. Only eight vehicles left the site without having committed any offences.

Drivers were dealt with for the following:

• Three Overweight vehicles

• Three seatbelt offences

• Two mobile phone offences

• One DVSA advisory notice issued

• Two offences of being in proper control / due care

• Five window tint offences

• Two insecure loads

• Two no insurance with vehicle seizures

• One waste carrier licence offence

One vehicle was stopped for having a SORN notice from out of the country. When the vehicle was searched, it was found to have equipment used for growing class B drugs, namely Cannabis. A man in his 20s and a man in his 40s, who were travelling in the vehicle, were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs and taken to King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre for questioning.

The vehicle, equipment and cash was seized. Both men were later bailed.

Sgt Adrian Hales of the Joint Roads and Armed Policing said: “Action days provide us with the ideal opportunity to not only reduce the number of road casualties we experience every day on our roads but to also disturb criminals who are choosing to operate via the road network in Norfolk.

“We saw an unusually high level of window tint offences which can be incredibly dangerous.

“Tinted windows reduce a driver’s visibility, especially at night and pose a risk to other road users and pedestrians who may not be easily seen by a driver. Insurance companies should be informed of this modification and it should always be tested to ensure they meet the legal limits.”

20 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) were issued which could result in fines and/or points on drivers’ licences.

The roads policing team were supported by the camera safety team which identified 71 speeding offences on surrounding A roads.

The DVSA issued three prohibitions as a part of the day with one vehicle having 13 different defects. The vehicle was issued with an immediate prohibition and had to be recovered.

A number of officers took part in the action day, including those from the Roads and Armed Policing Team and the Camera Safety Team. Other partner agencies were also there such as the DVSA and Breckland Council licensing team, as well as the modern slavery team which were looking into organised immigration crime.