Sergeant Alun Williams at one of the road checks in Swansea

Fifty-seven people are to appear in court after a hi-tech police operation was carried out across the South Wales force area.

Charges of drug possession, burglary, internet fraud, racially aggravated assault and breach of a football banning order have been brought against people caught in Swansea.

Offences of autocrime, burglary, drink driving and handling stolen goods were detected in Cardiff.

Among the arrests in Neath Port Talbot were three men charged with arson and theft, one youth stopped for breaching an anti-social order and one woman who has been charged with deception.

Other arrests were made in Merthyr, Rhondda Cynon Taff, the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend.

Biggest initiative

Police vans and cars equipped with a computer system which instantly identifies vehicles wanted by officers or the DVLA were stationed at road checks on Thursday as part of Operation Arrow Head.

It was the biggest initiative of its kind to be carried out by the force and resulted in 83 arrests.

Police have hailed the operation a success.

A spokesman for the force said: "Fifty-seven have been charged with offences and will be appearing before court.

"Seventeen people have been bailed pending further enquiries.

"Seven people have been cautioned in respect of crimes and two have been released with no further action."

Officers monitor the ANPR system in the back of a police van

A major part of the operation saw officers use the new system called Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).

It electronically scans car number plates to see if they are included on police intelligence data bases.

Vehicles on the wanted list were pulled over and the drivers questioned by officers on the road side.

Sergeant Alun Williams said: "We targeted criminals using the road.

"Any vehicle passing the system had its number plate read.

"If it triggered an alarm on the system then the details were passed on to the interception team."

Seven police vehicles equipped with ANPR were used at check points throughout the day.

Justice

Search warrants were also executed at properties across south Wales including a drugs raid at a house in Clydach in the Swansea Valley.

Police have been trialling the ANPR system since June but this was the first time it had been deployed in a major operation.

Superintendent Tim Jones, who oversaw the operation, said: "I am extremely pleased with its success and hope it will contribute to improving the quality of life of those affected by crime either as a victim or through the fear of it.

"We will continue to target criminals operating in the South Wales Police area and they should take the results as another clear warning of our commitment to bridging them to justice."