Arrests made and vehicles seized as part of road safety operation on A5 at Nesscliffe

West Mercia Police’s Operations Policing Unit and Local Policing Priorities Team joined with officers from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), HMRC, Environment Agency and Animal Welfare to carry out vehicle checks at a checkpoint on the A5 in Nesscliffe between Shrewsbury and Oswestry.

During the day four people were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, four vehicles seized and 20 prohibition notices issued.

Four vehicles were found to have an insecure load and three with a load of excessive weight, six vehicles had insufficient lights.

The initiative was also attended by some of West Mercia Police’s new student officers as part of their training.

Shropshire Safer Communities, Chief Inspector, Sarah Corteen said:

“Making our roads safer is a priority for us and our work to reduce the number of deaths or serious injuries caused on our roads is constantly on-going. We know the four most common causes of a collision where someone is killed or seriously injured are using a mobile phone while driving, speeding, drink/drug driving or not wearing a seatbelt and having a visible police presence on the road can help stop those whose driving is a risk to either themselves or other road users.

“Working in partnership with DVSA means we can seize vehicles that are not fit for the road. If the vehicle is not roadworthy, not taxed or the driver is not insured we will seize it and take it off the road, making the road safer for all road users.

“These vehicle checks are also an effective way of denying criminals using the road network to travel through our county to commit crime by disrupting them and their criminal activity. We know most of our rural crime is committed by criminals travelling into our county and will do all we can to disrupt and deter them from coming here to commit crime.”