Four arrested and dozens of vehicle offences identified in day of action

Friday, 6 March 2026 08:07

Four people were arrested, and dozens of vehicle offences were identified in a joint Roads Policing, DVSA, and Immigration operation yesterday (5th March) on our roads.

Officers from RPU, in collaboration with our partner agencies, executed a day of action on the Wiltshire road network, targeting unsafe vehicles and the use of fraudulent documents by drivers.

The results were as follows:

Four arrests for immigration offences
4 mobile phone offences
14 overweight vehicle offences
10 tyre offences
3 tachograph offences
£4,500 in cash seized by immigration
1 count each of careless driving, not in proper control of a vehicle and plate not conforming to regulations.

There were also multiple lighting defects, defective brakes and load security offences.

In one example, the tyre tread on a vehicle was found to be 1.08mm, well below the 1.6mm legal limit.

The drivers were given tickets and their vehicles prohibited until made roadworthy.

Roads Policing Officer PC Mike Handscomb said: “This has been a hugely successful day of collaborative working to combat unsafe vehicles and illegal working on our roads.

“The roadworthiness of vehicles is critical to keeping other road users safe. Overweight or incorrectly loaded vehicles, or those with bare tyres, pose significant dangers to other drivers due to the impact it can have on braking and steering.

“We also know that drivers using fraudulent documents on the roads has links to immigration offences and organised crime, potentially enabling exploitation.

“We will continue to proactively conduct operations like these to ensure our roads are as safe as possible.”

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