POLICE made ten arrests and seized more than 50 vehicles in a countywide operation using car number plate reading technology.

Sixty-eight untaxed and uninsured vehicles were taken off North Yorkshire's roads in the joint operation by police and the DVLA.

Police said that the ten arrests made by officers ranged from alleged illegal immigrants to individuals wanted for crimes including forgery and deception.

Sergeant Ian Butler, from the force Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) unit, said: "This is what intelligence-led policing is all about.

"We use the information we have collected, excellent national databases and the advanced technology of ANPR, and the result is that we have arrested wanted people and taken a large number of untaxed or uninsured vehicles off the road.

"We have found that a high proportion of untaxed vehicles are connected with criminals and criminality and this operation will undoubtedly hit a variety of law-breakers where it hurts."

Last week's operation ran for two days in Harrogate and one day each in Skipton, Scarborough and York.

All seized vehicles have been locked in secure compounds until their owners have paid a fine and provided proof that the vehicles have been taxed and insured.

The ANPR cameras checked the registration numbers of 40,562 vehicles, of which 93 were stopped.

Six drivers received fixed penalty tickets for offences ranging from driving unaccompanied on a provisional licence to driving while using a hand-held phone, said Sgt Butler.

He said: "This force has a duty to tackle criminality in all its guises and that is what we have been doing with this highly successful operation."

John Moore, DVLA's enforcement manager, said: "We are determined to target this irresponsible group who consistently evade paying their road tax. There is a strong link between untaxed vehicles, motoring offences, anti-social behaviour and crime.

"From past experience, we have found that up to 80 per cent of untaxed vehicles have no insurance and up to 70 per cent of the occupants of these vehicles have criminal records."

He said the vehicles also posed a threat to road safety.