On Tuesday 12th May 2009, officers from Wombwell & Darfield SNT were engaged on an operation with officers from the BMBC Environmental Regulatory Services on Doncaster Road, Darfield. The officers were targeting drivers that were flouting legislation in relation to the carriage of waste materials and those that deal in scrap metals.
During the operation, officers arrested four males following a search of their vehicle, which was full of bags containing second hand clothing. The bags were from seven different charities in all, none of the males represented any charity. Their vehicle (shown below) was also seized by officers, when it was established that the driver was using the van without insurance.
One of the males has been released on bail whilst the team continues with its enquiries, the other three males were released without charge. The charity bags have been returned to the respective charities, who were grateful for the teams intervention.
PC Jameson who made the arrests commented "we are appealing to members of the community who leave items on doorsteps for charity collections to help us prevent this type of crime, charity organisations are suffering from well organised gangs collecting their clothing bags. quite often people see a van and a driver with a yellow tab-bard and assume they are legitimate charity collectors, but they are not!"
He advised "we ask that if members of the public are suspicious of collectors in their area, they contact the police immediately"
