Forty-four people were arrested in a joint police operation involving officers from Bexley against travelling criminals on Thursday.

Operation Lockdown saw people arrested for burglary, robbery, handling stolen goods, possession of an offensive weapon, possession with intent to supply drugs, theft, immigration offences and actual bodily harm.

Officers carried out a total of 762 stops, 238 searches and seized 40 vehicles for a variety of motoring offences during the operation.

A total of five stolen phones were recovered together with two knives and £5,500 in cash.

Officers used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify vehicles driven by suspected criminals.

Chief Inspector Stuart Bell, from the MPS, who coordinated the operation, said: “We are determined to disrupt criminals who use the road network to commit crime.

“Operations like this ensure that we can stop and effectively disrupt these individuals and prevent their movement across London and into neighbouring counties.”

He added: “ANPR is an effective and intelligent tool that allows us to target known criminals and those who are wanted for serious offences.

“Thursday’s operation showed how this can work to catch offenders and make communities safer.”

Officers from Lewisham, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Croydon, Southwark, Wandsworth and Bexley boroughs worked together to disrupt travelling criminals and preventing cross-border crime.

These officers worked alongside Kent, Surrey and British Transport Police,