TRAVELLERS cheques seized by police have been confiscated.

Durham Police yesterday successfully applied for the confiscation of £8,800-worth of travellers cheques under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

They were seized from Robert Stockton, in a car parked in Old Elvet, Durham City, last October.

Durham magistrates were told that Stockton and a second man had been observed going into travel agents in the city applying for the travellers cheques.

Graham Duff, making the confiscation bid on behalf of Durham Police, said both used false names and addresses.

When interviewed, the second man told police the money belonged to Stockton, who had asked him to help him buy the travellers cheques.

Stockton, 48, of Ash Crescent, Seaham, County Durham, who is on state benefits, initially claimed the money was a mixture of loans, savings and earnings.

But Mr Duff said this claim was incredible and even if Stockton had earned some of the money, the Inland Revenue and Department of Work and Pensions were not aware of it.

Mr Duff said that Stockton had later admitted some of the money used to buy the travellers cheques may have been "dirty money", from the sale of cigarettes on the black market.

Agreeing to the unopposed police application, magistrates' chairman Vince Doherty said: "We believe the money was obtained illegally and would have been used for illegal purposes."

Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the money goes to central Government funds, with some re-circulated to law enforcement.