On Patrol with Operation Trivium: Car Tax, Deportation and Modern Slavery

Oct 24, 2014, 11:26 AM

(Broadcast on BBC Radio Stoke, October 2014)

We're used to seeing Staffordshire police patrolling our roads but this week they've been joined by officers from 14 countries including Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania.

They've been stopping drivers of foreign cars on the county's roads to try and clamp down on crimes including modern slavery, child sexual exploitation and credit card fraud.

It's called Operation Trivium - it's seen more than two hundred vehicles stopped this week, leading to 19 being seized and 10 people arrested.

It's hoped that while improving road safety and stopping drivers using the UK's roads illegally, on the spot stops will also help officers identify more serious organised crime groups.

BBC Radio Stoke's EMMA THOMAS went out on patrol with PC Angie Lester....