Suffolk police made more than 550 arrests and seized over 240 vehicles in just one year of action on the county's roads.

Operation Sentinel was set up in 2019 to protect local communities and tackle cross-border criminality and between June 23, 2021, and June 23, 2022, a total of 554 arrests were made for a variety of offences.

According to Suffolk police, 175 charges were brought and 26 custodial sentences were given, alongside 13 suspended sentences, 75 driving disqualifications and 107 fines given during the year of action.

Twenty-three people had points added to their licence and 10 people were ordered to provide community service, while 13 people received community orders.

In total, 246 vehicles were seized.

Detective Superintendent Dave Giles said: "The Op Sentinel teams play such an important role in Suffolk, keeping our residents safe by actively targeting those using our road network to carry out their illicit activities, which is often the cause of misery for many within the county.

“Our officers are highly effective at detecting these criminals and their activities and they continue to go from strength to strength.

"These results show how important these officers and the skills they bring are to our force.”

Tim Passmore, Suffolk police and crime commissioner said: “The Sentinel teams were funded by Suffolk residents through the council tax precept and as the arrests show, the investment really is paying dividends.

"This proactive policing approach is exactly what the people of Suffolk asked for, so I am delighted to see it having such a dramatic impact.

"Suffolk is one of the safest counties in the country, but that's not to say there aren't challenges which the constabulary needs to be equipped to deal with.

"These three Sentinel teams are helping to proactively disrupt serious and organised criminal activity as well as increase police visibility, which is great news for us all.”