A police campaign to disrupt vehicle-related crime in Blaenau Gwent has seen officers seize 19 vehicles and make eight arrests.

Officers charged a 58-year-old man, from Ebbw Vale, with a drink-driving offence and recovered five stolen vehicles during the proactive operation in Brynmawr, Abertillery, Ebbw Vale and Tredegar.

As a result of this initiative, reports of theft of and from vehicles in Blaenau Gwent this month have reduced by 13 per cent compared to the same period 12 months ago.

Neighbourhood, Roads Policing and Specialist Operations (RPSO), the Community Action Team, and crime prevention units joined together for Operation Alliance, which ran for eight days from Monday 23 February.

Sergeant Marc Porter, from the Blaenau Gwent neighbourhood policing team, said: “Operations like this are a great chance for us to work together as a service to focus on disrupting vehicle-related crime.

“Our statistics show we seized cars and evidence with a total value of £47,000 during this latest campaign, including seven vehicles that were being driven without valid insurance and three that were being driven in an anti-social manner.

“Our latest data for the whole of Gwent shows that we’ve had fewer reports of theft of and from vehicles during this financial year to date compared to 12 months ago.”

As part of the latest campaign, the We Don’t Buy Crime team gave crime prevention advice and issued 39 SmartWater vehicle kits to businesses and residents in hotspot areas.

SmartWater for vehicles is a forensic, traceable liquid used to mark vehicles and assets, allowing police to link stolen items to owners and thieves to crime scenes.

If you have any concerns around vehicle-related crime in your community, and believe you have information that might help police identify those responsible, get in touch by calling 101 or sending us a direct message on Facebook or X

Alternatively, you call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 with information