Police today revealed details of their biggest-ever crackdown on car crime in Essex.

Operation Resolve saw hundreds of officers working countywide to ease a crime which has become one of the biggest headaches for Essex Police. The week-long operation was launched last Monday but its details were kept under wraps by police.

Undercover operations were combined with stopchecks and high visibility policing to target known car criminals and opportunistic thieves.

It ran hand in hand with a high-profile car crime prevention week. A third of all reported crime in Essex last year was vehicle crime - some 30,120 offences.

The operation's results were due to be published later today but Assistant Chief Constable John Broughton has already hailed the initiative a resounding success.

He said: "The intention was to put the fear of crime back where it belongs - in the mind of the criminal. This was about reducing crime and the fear of it, to make this an even safer county."

Police intelligence was used to find and target known "hotspots" where criminals operate in south Essex.

Certain car parks were staked out and roads monitored. High visibility police patrols also carried out random spot-checks in the area.

The operation was good news for Basildon which is the county's car crime capital. Some 3,878 offences were committed last year alone.

Southend suffered 3,155 offences last year - the county's third highest tally.

Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators were put on alert for the operation and special constables patrolled town centre car parks.

Rayleigh police issued a number of arrest warrants on Wednesday night.

Two people were prosecuted and the force detected 12 offences, although the full figures have not as yet been collated.

Det Chief Insp Grahame Bird said: "The results seem to be very good at the moment and it's looking very promising."

Crackdown - a model poses as a car thief to highlight the crime which has become one of the biggest headaches for police

Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.