Rural engagement officers seize and recover 180 vehicles in 2022
Date of alert:
Thursday 9 February 2023
Crime Ref:
Force:
Essex Police
Our Rural Engagement Team have been busy helping to keep our rural roads safe by seizing uninsured vehicles and recovering stolen vehicles to reunite with their owners.
The team regularly carry out road safety speed checks while they patrol our rural road network and they also investigate reports of vehicle thefts and stolen agricultural machinery.
During 2022, they recovered or seized 180 vehicles. The majority of vehicles seized in the past 12 months – 95 – have been cars and vans found to be uninsured or which were driven by people with an incorrect driving licence er even without a licence at all. Vehicles are seized under section 165 of the Road Traffic Act.
And, of the total, 50 were stolen vehicles, tracked down and recovered following an investigation. In just one month – September – the team recovered seven caravans, two vans and a dumper truck.
