INVESTIGATORS have made a breakthrough in a battle to rid a town of bag slashers.

Middlesbrough Council says time is running out for the town's "alley moochers" - night-time scavengers who tear open bin bags to retrieve items for sale.

Officers say the bag slashers look through people's rubbish for cast-off clothes, shoes, broken toys and anything that can be sold on as scrap or bank statements, which can be used to commit identity fraud.

A witness has come forward and agreed to give the authority's enforcement officers a statement on the activities of alley moochers working in central Middlesbrough.

The team's Dr Anthony Luke said the information from the witness sheds light on the motives for the activities of bag slashers in the area.

He told The Northern Echo:

"We have a new piece of information we did not have before - another piece to close the gap in the jigsaw.

"It points us in the right direction of certain individuals.

"It helps us know the area we are looking at, and at certain individuals

"It really does help if we get a clue as to who we are going after."

Dr Luke said: "Once you have a great deal of information, you can use it to try and stop this happening."

He said moochers who come across old financial statements or personal details in rubbish sell them on to criminals, who use the information to empty bank accounts.

The council has so far sold 1,000 cut-price shredders to residents in vulnerable areas of the town, to thwart bag slashers.

Last August, council workers found a till roll listing 17 complete credit card numbers in a rubbish bag in a back alley in the centre of Middlesbrough.

Dr Luke said: "The next stage is to gather intelligence to see if this is a widespread problem and this information will be used to plan future campaigns."

He and his team are concerned that a general lack of security could potentially leave shops and business customers vulnerable to fraud.