Vehicle recognition scheme expanded

North Yorkshire Police is expanding its vehicle recognition scheme, which has so far yielded overwhelmingly positive results in the county.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) units have been placed inside police vehicles and on local roads, where they automatically scan the number plates of passing motorists before running checks against wanted individuals and stolen cars.

Between June 2006 and May 2007 ANPR cameras were responsible for 205 arrests in North Yorkshire alone, leading to the recovery of over £1 million of illegal drugs, stolen goods and laundered cash.

And with the scheme receiving unanimous support among police and community figures, the Home Office has now issued a £150,000 grant for the implementation of three additional fixed sites in the county.

The contract for installing the fixed sites has been awarded to Genesis (UK), specialists in IT based solutions to both public and private sectors, pending approval from the Highways Agency.