BURGLARS drove a stolen car the wrong way down the motorway in a bid to get away from police in the early hours of the morning on Monday. Officers were alerted to the car on through their Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, which was used lo

BURGLARS drove a stolen car the wrong way down the motorway in a bid to get away from police in the early hours of the morning on Monday.

Officers were alerted to the car on through their Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, which was used locate two other stolen vehicles in the area the previous week.

The Mini was on false number plates having been stolen from a property in Radlett on September 19 and it had just been used as a getaway vehicle from a burglary in Farrier Top, Markyate, in which the culprits were disturbed.

Police chased the Mini to Redbourn and then onto the northbound M1 at Junction 9 where the driver then turned around and started heading the wrong way along the carriageway, towards the south.

The four suspects in the vehicle then decamped and fled but officers from the road policing unit, supported by the police helicopter and dog search teams, located two of them.

In a separate incident the day before (Sunday, September 21) police arrested a man driving a Nissan Micra after the vehicle activated the static ANPR cameras on St Peters Street in St Albans at around 4.35am.

The car was located by officers in Bricket Wood but the driver failed to stop and was pursued onto the M1, but the 38-year-old man from Luton was eventually stopped and arrested on suspicion of taking the car during a burglary in Beds.

On Tuesday, September 16, at 1.55pm, a police officer had another ANPR hit in Bricket Wood on a stolen Vauxhall Astra from Norfolk and the driver was pursued to Hemel Hempstead where he was arrested.

Police were also out in force during a massive cross border ANPR operation on Wednesday, September 17, at South Mimms services, in which ten people were arrested for theft, GBH, taking vehicles without consent and immigration offences.

The operation, which was supported by HM Revenue and Customs, saw 32 vehicles being seized and nine vehicles immediately prohibited from being driven.

ANPR Manager Inspector Andy Piper said: "These are just some of the excellent results we get on a weekly basis in the central area. It shows how we are disabling criminals from using Hertfordshire roads to commit crime here or in other counties. ANPR not only reduces crime but can be used to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roads.