THREE Middlesbrough men have been arrested in York on suspicion of theft thanks to Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology.

Just after 4pm on November 14, police received a report of the theft of four phones mobile phones worth around £3,000 from the O2 shop in Selby.

Officers were also aware of a similar incident in Durham, an attempted theft in Harrogate, and also had information about a vehicle believed to be linked to those incidents.

Observations were put out across the area and the vehicle was traced among heavy traffic heading to York city centre.

Officers stopped the car on Micklegate in York at around 4.45pm and arrested the three occupants, aged 17, 21 and 25, on suspicion of theft. They also seized a number of suspected stolen mobile phones found inside the vehicle.

All three currently men remain in police custody for questioning.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “ANPR was instrumental in tracking the vehicle’s movements enabling officers to intercept it and arrest the suspects.

“It works by reading vehicle registration number and flagging up vehicles linked to criminal activity or missing or vulnerable people.

“It helps us to arrest suspects, disrupt criminal activity, prevent crime and gather evidence to support prosecutions.

“It also helps us find missing or vulnerable people.”