Seven arrested after officers in Oldham uncovered suspected ‘chop shop’

Four men and three women have been arrested and two suspected stolen vehicles recovered after officers quickly responded to a report from a member of the public concerning suspicious activity around vehicles in their Oldham neighbourhood.

At around 3:47 pm yesterday (Sunday), police received a call of suspicious activity, and officers attended Newport Street in Oldham to investigate.

Officers entered a detached garage containing two Ford Fiesta vehicles and several registration plates linked to other Ford Fiestas.

All had been reported stolen in the area and further afield.

Four men, aged 60, 45, 39 and 32 and three women – aged 43, 33 and 27 – were all arrested on suspicion of theft of motor vehicles.

All remain in police custody for questioning.

Chief Inspector Ian Partington, from Oldham’s Neighbourhood team, said: “We suspect this garage was being used to illegally disassemble and ‘chop up’ vehicles for parts, later selling them for profit.

"We have deployed crime scene investigators in order to gather evidence, which will support our specialist vehicle examiners with their investigations.

“Tackling vehicle crime is one of my team’s biggest priorities and today we’ve achieved a great result.

"A location that is undoubtedly being used for criminality has been uncovered and two vehicles will hopefully be making their way back to their rightful owners.

“We are committed to robustly targeting thieves responsible for stealing someone’s hard-earned property.

"These criminals are quite simply profiting from people’s misery and are a blight on our communities.

“Whilst we are working hard and taking steps in the right direction, we will not become complacent and we ask members of the public to be vigilant and take extra measures to secure their vehicles, particularly owners of Ford Fiesta and Ford Transit vans with increased thefts of these models.

“We recommend owners consider preventative measures to deter these thieves, by installing steering locks or wheel clamps and not leaving anything of value in your vehicles."

Anyone with any information in relation to a crime, please contact 101 or you can always contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online.

If you witness a crime in progress, dial 999.

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