A POLICE operation to clamp down on driving offenders in east Cleveland was such a success that further checks are soon to be made.

Operation Clampdown targeted vehicles known to the police using information about people driving while banned, without a driving licence, driving untaxed or in uninsured vehicles.

It was aimed at a specific group of drivers brought to the attention of police by local people. As a result, 46 vehicles were stopped and checked on March 15 and 17.

Five vehicles were taken off the road, red diesel was found in the tank of one car, another had outdated road tax and another vehicle was seized from a disqualified driver who was subsequently arrested. Another car contained a stolen tax disc, which was recovered.

Sergeant Richard Schofield, of Loftus community policing team, said: "The aim of the operation was to target criminals coming into the east Cleveland area in order to commit crime, driving with total disregard for the law.

"People driving while banned, or without ever having taken a driving test in their lives, pose an obvious danger on the roads.

"The same goes for vehicles being driven without insurance or road tax. The car is unlikely to have passed an MoT which would question whether or not the car is roadworthy, also whether or not it is safe."