A TOTAL of 24 vehicles were seized by police in two joint operations with Wyre Forest District Council targeting law breakers on the busy A449 road near Cookley.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition - ANPR - was used earlier this month to instantly check details against national databases to identify those untaxed, without insurance and of interest to officers.

The Vehicle Operator Service Agency - VOSA, HM Revenues and Customs, along with the Environment Agency, were also involved.

Five people were arrested for driving offences, on suspicion of crimes, or because they were wanted on warrant. Eighteen fixed penalty tickets were issued for a variety of offences, including not wearing seatbelts.

Sergeant Mark Layton, of North Worcestershire road policing unit, said: "We have found joint operations with our partner organisations to be very worthwhile exercises.

"While we each have different priorities, we often discover that vehicles or drivers, which come to the attention of the police, are also of interest to out partner orgnaisations."

VOSA also issued 30 probation notices - including eight for overloading and four for breaking driver hours.

Two unregistered waste carriers were stopped and one vehicle was taken off the road after the person behind the wheel was found to be an illegal waste operator.

The council's cabinet member for commercial services, Marcus Hart, said: "Working with our partners, we have once again conducted a highly successful operation. It was organised to target illegal waste operators, unsafe vehicles and also crackdown on criminal activity to make our community safer for everyone.

"One of the council's priorities is tackling fly-tipping. The enforcement stops were part of our action to reduce the number of incidents and we are now planning to organise more roadside checks in the future."