Motorists on two of Norfolk's busiest roads have been targeted for roadside checks as part of a multi-agency operation targeting rural crime.

Officers from the Breckland Safer Neighbourhood Team, the Environment Agency and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) centred their four-hour operation on the A1065 and A47 around Swaffham yesterday.

They pulled over 45 vehicles out of a total of 2394 vehicles that passed through the Norfolk Police Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera between 11am and 3pm.

The agencies conducted roadside interviews and tested fuel as well as carrying out waste carrier licence checks.

Breckland Inspector James Rushton, said: 'This was a successful joint operation between local officers and officials from The Environment Agency and HMRC and is a great example of a multi-agency approach taking preventative measures to check licences, and stamp out tax evasion and misuse of fuel.

'Traffic violations were dealt with using words of advice, and roadside tickets were issued for more significant offences.

'We are sending a clear message to those who believe they can evade their legal responsibilities, that they will not go unpunished and we will continue to run operations like this to detect and prevent rural crime.'