Police operation in Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Boro and Stockton targets rogue traders

Officers from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit were joined by colleagues from Trading Standards, HMRC and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency as they stopped 168 vehicles over the space of two days in Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Stockton.

One driver was tested for drugs using a roadside drug wipe test and failed and 30 vehicles were found to have defects such as defective tyres, lights and brakes, including a van which was found to be driving on a rear tyre which was almost completely flat.

One driver was found to be using their mobile while driving, nine vehicles had no MOT certificate, four vehicles were overloaded and one driver was not wearing a seatbelt.

Three vans, a car and a heavy goods vehicle had no insurance, while four had no licences to transport scrap and four had no tax.

Additionally, hundreds of pounds of suspected counterfeit cash was seized.

The aim of the enforcement activity was to disrupt criminals masquerading as legitimate traders in order to target vulnerable, and often elderly, residents.

Police say the work they carry out is often expensive, sub-standard and in many cases not even required at all.

It can also be linked to distraction burglaries, where the householder is distracted or deceived in order that valuables or cash can be stolen.

Sergeant Paul Harker, from Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “We will continue with such operations alongside partner agencies in order to protect victims from being conned out of vast amounts of money for this type of unnecessary work.”

Peter Constantine, from the North East Regional Special Operations Unit, a collaboration between Northumbria, Cleveland and Durham Police, said: “We will enforce all legislation against these individuals to disrupt their activity in the North-East.

“This is an excellent example of partners working together to protect our communities.”