Arrest after 'chop shop' uncovered by council

A man has been arrested after a "chop shop" containing suspected stolen car parts was uncovered in Barnsley.

South Yorkshire Police were tipped off about the site in Barrowfield Road, Thurnscoe, by Barnsley Council neighbourhood wardens, who found it during a routine visit last Wednesday.

During their search of the premises officers discovered two stolen vehicles as well as multiple car parts believed to have been stripped from other stolen cars.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of handling stolen goods and theft of a motor vehicle. He has been bailed while inquiries continue.

Sgt Paul Aston, from the Barnsley South East Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "Our colleagues from the council regularly conduct checks on areas or land which is owned by the council, and do often feed back to us if they see anything suspicious or that they think we should be aware of.

"Without these checks, we often can't build up as much intelligence around illegal activity."

The term "chop shop" is used to describe a place where stolen cars are taken apart so their parts can be sold separately.

"Criminals look to use these chop shops to quickly move on stolen cars to gain profit, or use them in illegal activity," Sgt Aston said.

"This find was significant for our officers and we are working hard to investigate further into this."

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