Police have been working alongside various partners to carry out enforcement activities to crack down on crime in Thornton Heath.

On Wednesday, September 26, officers from the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams in Bensham Manor, Broad Green, Selhurst, Thornton Heath and West Thornton, focused their efforts in and around Thornton Heath High Street in a bid to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

Officers worked alongside colleagues from Croydon Council, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and UK Border Agency (UKBA) to crack down on a range of offences ranging from parking through to immigration.

Croydon Council Bailiffs led an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operation, to identify vehicles and drivers who had not paid various fines.

Fifty vehicles were stopped, resulting in about £3,500 being recovered in unpaid fines. HMRC visited 16 shops in the area and will be investigating the shops further in relation to tax evasion and benefit fraud.

UKBA also carried out checks and four people were arrested in connection with immigration offences.

Fines or enforcement action was also taken against an unlicensed street collector, an unlicensed street trader and four shops that were breaching the conditions of their license.

Four other premises were given advice and reminders of their terms of their licences following minor breaches.

Acting Inspector Dan Atkins said: "It was about coming together, both our SNTs and also our partner agencies from the Council, UKBA and HMRC to tackle all variety of offences.

"From our point of view, it has been a successful operation and should hopefully show the local community that we are all determined to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour in Thornton Heath and the surrounding area.

"Although some of the offences we have targeted today may seem fairly minor, it sets a tone that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable and that the relevant authority will take action whether you’ve not paid a parking ticket or whether you’re involved in violent crime."