By Isabel Jensen

A POLICE operation involving officers from Bishop's Stortford and Stansted has been hailed a success after two men were arrested.

Operation Agrarian was set up to tackle cross-border criminality and used officers from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), HM Customs and Excise, Motor Insurance Bureau and the Benefits Agency.

Officers used four secret sites to pull over vehicles with suspicious plates with the help of some hi-tech number plate recognition software.

One man was arrested on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant and another on suspicion of attempting to steal a car.

In total 177 drivers were stopped by officers, four cars without insurance were seized and three people were issued with warnings.

Bishops Stortford neighbourhood policing inspector Andy Piper said: "This has proved to be an extremely successful high visibility operation with assistance from our partner agencies. It has given out the message to criminals - we have various means at our disposal to catch you, and we will find you."

During the day-long operation 16,000 number plates were read which led to 25 "hits" for a number of offences including no insurance, no MoT certificate and incorrect keepers details.

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