Vehicle stolen in Southport leads police to Walton Vale crime compound

A report was received on New Year’s Day (Tuesday 1 January 2019) that a Mercedes car had been stolen from a driveway on Waterloo Road, Southport overnight. The car had been fitted with a tracker and was tracked to the industrial estate.

Upon arrival at the warehouse on Sugar Street shortly before 7pm on Wednesday 2 January 2019, patrols found the car alongside a number of other vehicles and vehicle parts suspected of being stolen. Officers remain at the scene and crime scene investigators are gathering forensic evidence.

Detective Inspector Phil Mahon said: “Thanks to the installation of a tracking device by the owner, we were able to trace the Mercedes to this compound and further investigations have revealed a number of cars and car parts which we believe to be stolen.

“We recognise the huge impact having a car stolen has on people – the expense of having to replace them and paying insurance premiums, and the general day-today inconvenience of not having a car to carry on day-to-day activities and getting to work.

“We continue our efforts to tackle car theft and regularly assess hotspot areas across the force, directing our resources accordingly.

“We work with partner agencies, to tackle this type of crime which includes the improvement of street lighting, as well as regularly carrying out roads policing operations, when we stop cars and check ownership details as well as license and insurance information. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is also employed to help officers to detect, deter and disrupt this type of criminality.

“Our community teams are also continually working to ensure that safety messages are being reinforced with residents about ensuring their vehicles are safe such as parking in a well-lit area and keeping car keys out of sight.”

We would urge anyone who has any intelligence on anyone involved in this type of crime to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101 quoting incident reference 752 of 2 January 2018 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.