Violent criminals will be purged from West Yorkshire's roads by police using state of the art technology.

The county's force will pilot the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system which allows officers to scan vehicle registrations and immediately check them against information stored in databases.

The system accesses the Police National Computer to identify stolen vehicles, or those involved in crimes.

Nine forces across the country are taking part in the evaluation of the system, codenamed Project Laser.

Each force has been given �40,000 towards the cost of testing the various ways the technology could be used.

Superintendent Gary Hammerton, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "Spectrum relies on intelligence-led policing which means that vehicles used by criminals can be identified immediately."