Royal Borough officers teamed up with Police officers to net illegal vehicles on Wednesday 4 October as part of Greenwich's successful Operation Stop It! campaign and the Metropolitan Police's Operation CUBO.

Seven vehicles seized and two arrests made

Seven vehicles including a van and a BMW were among those seized in the action in John Wilson Street, Woolwich to pull over drivers for licence, insurance and waste carrier checks. Two arrests were also made with one for the possession of a dangerous weapon and the other for handling stolen goods.

The van was seized as the driver failed to provide written authority to transport commercial waste and the BMW was confiscated as it did not have valid tax to be on the road. Two other vehicles were seized by police as they were being driven without insurance.

Improving quality of life for residents

The action was part of the Council's rolling Operation Stop It! to remove nuisance vehicles from the road including the unlicensed, the abandoned and those suspected of being used for fly tipping. The work is also part of the Council's campaign to crack down on the fly tipping and wider enviro-crime which impacts heavily on resident's quality of life. This includes issuing fixed penalty notices to businesses who fail to provide evidence of proper waste arrangements.

Working with the Police to tackle illegal vehicles

Councillor Jackie Smith, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Environment, said: "We are proud of our work with the police to tackle illegal vehicles and flytipping which can blight neighbourhoods. We are sending a clear message that people who carry waste illegally in Greenwich can expect fixed penalty notices, seizure of their vehicles and prosecution which could result in fines running into thousands of pounds.

"Cooperative work with other agencies in operations such as this is so important as it helps to reduce environmental crime by tackling it at an early stage."

Stopping crimes before they happen

Borough Commander for Greenwich Metropolitan Police Service Simon Dobinson, said: "This is a great example of the work we are carrying out with the Royal Borough to stop crimes that impact on the lives of residents such as fly tipping before they happen.

Removing unlicensed and uninsured vehicles makes the borough's roads much safer and it is a successful way of catching those involved in criminal activities including fly tipping. Uninsured drivers are five times more likely to be involved in an accident and are unlikely to have their vehicles MOT certified."

If you see it, report it

If you see of have suspicions that someone is carrying waste illegally you can report it online with the registration number of the vehicle.