DAY 27: Five men arrested during 100 days of action patrols in Aylesbury

An ANPR operation to tackle metal thefts in Aston Clinton resulted in two arrests yesterday (12/9).

At around 1pm a vehicle was stopped and after searching the vehicle a basket of lead was found. The occupant, a 34 year old man from Watford, Hertfordshire was arrested on suspicion of theft, possession of an offensive weapon and going equipped to commit theft. The man has been released on police bail until the 10 October.

In another part of Aylesbury, four men were arrested during a 4x4 patrol of the rural areas.

While a car was being pursued by police, a bag which was found to contain jewellery and cash was thrown from the car. Once the car had been pulled over, four men, a 38 year-old from Witney, 21 year-old from Edgware Middlesex, 24 year-old from High Wycombe and a 35 year-old from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire were arrested on suspicion of burglary.

The burglary is believed to have taken place at a property in Warwickshire. All four men have been transferred to Warwickshire Police.

The team also visited the villages of Wingrave and Weston Turville and signed up around 100 residents to Thames Valley Alerts.

ANPR operation resulted in four men arrested on suspicion of burglary

Around 18 sites of heritage and churches were also visited and left with specific crime prevention advice.



Visiting heritage sites and churches



A word about heritage crime

Many land owners have ancient monuments and archaeological sites in or near to their property. Any theft or criminal damage involving a monument or archaeological site should be reported to police ASAP. Any work being carried out on a monument without consent can be reported to English Heritage.



Metal detectors

·         The vast majority of metal detector users are law-abiding people and will only detect and search for objects on land where they have the landowner’s permission, however, a landowner cannot give permission for a person to use a metal detector on a scheduled monument.

·         Metal detecting in a specified location without consent could amount to theft.

·         Illegal detecting at night is sometimes known by the term night hawking.

·         Report suspicious incidents to the Thames Valley Police as soon as possible on our non-emergency number 101 or 999 if it is an emergency.  

For further information please visit the National Council for Metal Detecting.