Nottinghamshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit officers arrest four men near Elkesley after lorry spotted on the A1 at Newark driving on false plates

Four men have been arrested near Newark after police used stingers to bring a lorry driving on false plates to a halt.

Nottinghamshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit officers travelled to the A1 at Newark after hearing a vehicle had been sighted using cloned license plates at around midnight on Wednesday (January 15) .

Attempts were made to stop the truck but after following the vehicle for a time, stingers were deployed as it made its way along the A1 towards Elkesley, and the rest of the team boxed the lorry in with their cars.

A large pair of bolt cutters were seen to be thrown from the vehicle.

All four people on board were detained, while the driver was made to take a roadside breathalyser test and drugs wipe which returned positive results for traces of cannabis, while the former suggested the driver as being over the legal alcohol limit.

Two men, aged 19 and 41, and two boys aged 16 and 17 were arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal.

The 41-year-old man, meanwhile, was additionally arrested on suspicion of drink-driving, drug-driving, driving without a licence, and driving without valid insurance.

Sergeant James Carrington, of Nottinghamshire Police, said that the officers involved “did a great job” bringing this lorry to a stop.

“After receiving information from a neighbouring force that a vehicle on cloned plates was making its way into our county, the team utilised all the available resources to quickly track it down,” he said, “They then showcased great skill to set up a successful sting deployment to slow the truck down, before boxing the vehicle in at the side of the road.

“As a result of the efforts of the officers involved this morning, we were able to arrest four people suspected of being involved in criminality and seize a vehicle on cloned plates.”