YOU may think they are checking your speed.

But this unmarked police van is actually catching criminals - and without even removing the handbrake.

Dorset Police's Automatic Number Plate Recognition van (ANPR) is crammed with thousands of pounds worth of camera and computer equipment.

Inside, PC Mickey Finnigan trains officers in the technology and yesterday he was stationed at the Puddletown bypass.

Officers use infrared technology to record the registration plate of every car that drives past.

Computers link this up to national police records to check the ownership, insurance and tax details of every car. Most importantly they check whether the cars are wanted in connection with any crimes. And within hours the results are tangible.

For every hundred cars that are checked, up to four are found to be untaxed or uninsured.

Last Thursday six uninsured cars were seized in Weymouth alone.

PC Finnigan is even able to recall past episodes where burglars and drug dealers have been tracked down in this way.

He said: "I know it's a cliché, but we want to deny criminals the use of the roads.

"Before a car gets past this van we know its details.

"It is a superb intelligence tool and there are other things you can do too. If there is a major accident and we are appealing for witnesses, we can provide a list of cars that use that route.

"Sometimes people see our van and start flashing other drivers to warn them. But we are not doing speed checks - we are after the criminals that burgle their house."

Footage recorded in the ANPR van is kept for a year.

Asked if he ever felt like Big Brother, PC Finnigan said: "Some times you can do.

"But once we explain to people what this is about they are quite happy."

As well as the van, several police cars across Dorset are now fitted with ANPR technology. This means checks are made every day by officers on other duties.

The van is used on major roads, and requires a team of about eight officers to staff a day's operation properly.

For this reason, ANPR use has varied across the country. Operations are labour intensive and some forces have even stopped using their vans.

But there is no sign of a halt by Dorset Police, which uses ANPR virtually every day.

Officers say the technology's future depends on staff resources.

But police inside the van believe they are making a difference - and criminals are left without cars.

FACTFILE

  • Nationally, almost 200,000 uninsured cars a year are taken off the road using ANPR technology.
  • Officers say Dorset is the third most successful police force in the country for seizing cars this way.
  • Some operations see officers stationed in the same place for three or four weeks.
  • In April 135 vehicles were seized in Dorset.
  • In West Dorset about 10 cars a month are seized.
  • Police plan to carry out even more ANPR checks in the run-up to the Olympics.