A £1M investment has been approved to tackle criminals who travel into North Yorkshire to commit crime.

Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, Julia Mulligan, has approved additional investment in Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) for the county's force.

At present, a quarter of all detected crimes in North Yorkshire are perpetrated by cross-border criminals, who take advantage of the region’s large geography and road network to prey on local communities.

As well as theft and rural crimes, cross-border criminals can be involved in a wide range of other offences, including child sexual exploitation.

ANPR is already used by the force to identify criminals en route and build intelligence on their movement patterns. But the latest investment will allow them to increase coverage across the region and deploy officers to disrupt criminals in their vehicles.

The decision is part of a wider programme of activity, called the Operational Policing Model (OPM), which is currently being implemented by the force.

Technology is a major feature of the programme, as part of an overall drive to reduce bureaucracy, so resources can be focused on frontline police out in the community. The ANPR decision is the first of a series of planned improvements, which will include mobile handsets for officers in 2015, to minimise paperwork.

Other changes include the introduction of investigation hubs to streamline and speed up the way the police investigate crimes, and creating a more direct link between intelligence gathering and officers on the ground.

Mrs Mulligan said: “Cross-border criminality is a major issue for North Yorkshire, as we border on so many other counties.

“It is vitally important that the police have the tools they need to target these criminals effectively, so we can make it clear that we will not allow our communities to be prey to their activities.

“The investment I have approved for ANPR is a significant one, but it will put North Yorkshire right at the forefront of this type of proactive policing, and give officers every chance to stop criminals in their tracks. When combined with the other changes that North Yorkshire Police are making, this will make a really positive difference.”

Chief Constable Dave Jones said: “I am delighted with this decision to improve our capability in tackling cross-border crime.

“It is an area where we are already very successful, through initiatives like Operation Hawk, but this will take us to the next level. However, ANPR is just one piece of the jigsaw.

“Even more important are the changes we are making across the service to reduce red-tape, bring in new ways of working, and generally improve the service we offer to the people of North Yorkshire.”