CRIMINALS travelling across the county boundary were targeted by police officers and other agencies in a joint action.
Operation Hyperion Two saw roads policing units for Surrey and Kent, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), and Tandridge District Council work together to target dodgy vehicles and drivers last Thursday.
I sat in a marked police car with Detective Sergeant Sailesh Limbachia, who headed up the operation on the A25 near Oxted.
He said: "Surrey is an affluent area and we are trying to target travelling criminals who come into Surrey and commit crimes.
"Vehicles need to be stopped if they look worse for wear. A lot of vehicles stopped will already be known to police and because we are working across the boundary we can catch others."
Based at the car park of The Grasshopper Inn, on the A25, patrol cars and unmarked police cars were pulling over vans and cars to inspect them and quiz drivers about their destinations.
We then headed down a back road to Clacket Lane service station. "This route can be used by criminals to avoid police noticing them," said DS Limbachia.
Turning on to the M25 at the service station and heading back to Junction 6 (Godstone), an alert came across the radio from the force's Automatic Number Place Recognition (ANPR) system.
"It can tell us if a car is wanted for things like no tax or insurance, but also alert us if they have made off from a petrol station without paying," he added.
Suddenly, DS Limbachia spotted a red Peugeot, carrying a passenger in the back seat who was not wearing a seatbelt. Blue lights flashing, we were off in pursuit.
The driver pulled on to the hard-shoulder and DS Limbachia got out to speak to him.
"Police officers have to be specially trained to pull someone over on the hard shoulder," he later told me. "Dragging winds from passing lorries can pull someone out of the relative safety, off the hard shoulder and into the path of passing traffic. It is very dangerous.
"But the family in the car were very honest and the man who was not wearing a seatbelt apologised and said he had just woken up."
We went back on to the A25, where a rusty pick-up truck, with a screwdriver holding up the driver's window, caught his eye.
"This vehicle does not look like it is in great condition and we can take it back to be inspected by VOSA," said DS Limbachia.
Overtaking cars and other vehicles near the pub, with sirens blaring, he managed to make a rapid turnaround to pull over the truck, where a VOSA inspector took over.
That day vans were also being targeted by Surrey Police because of a recent spate in metal thefts.
DS Limbachia told me: "The bigger picture is that we want to get criminals out of Surrey. We want to make it clear they are not welcome here.
"In the winter months, burglaries go up and we need to be on top of it all."
Surrey Police was unable to provide the results of the day's crackdown before the Mirror went to press.
