Cleveland Police and the magistrates court are working together to track down fine defaulters.

It means all those who pass through the police custody system will be checked for outstanding warrants.

A court enforcement officer will then be alerted to serve a warrant on the offender who will appear back in court.

Outstanding warrants

Colin Monson, chief executive of Cleveland Magistrates' Courts Service, said the new system follows on from a number of previous crackdown on fine defaulters.

He said: "In March, we had Operation Payback when court enforcement officers worked with teams of officers in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool and we brought around 100 of the worst offenders to book.

"Last week we had a blitz in Redcar, but one-off initiatives like that are a very big drain on resources.

"This week we have launched an on-going scheme to check everyone who is arrested in Middlesbrough and if they have got warrants outstanding they are brought over to us.

"On the first day, on Tuesday, 20 people were checked and seven came across to us. Ultimately magistrates can send people to prison and increasingly they are doing that."