SOUTHGATE police officers were out in force on a main road this afternoon catching drivers without insurance.

The Southgate Green Safer Neighbourhood Team, working with Brunwick Park colleagues from neighbouring Barnet, set up stall in Waterfall Road with an automatic numberplate recognition machine (ANPR).

They stopped 39 vehicles during the operation, and seized two vans and a car for being on the road without insurance.

Sergeant Kyra Meeke, who led the police effort, said the operation was partly in response to a rise in burglaries in the area.

She said: “We do these operations regularly and are often on Station Road by Homebase, but we decided to come here today to deter burglars who have been active in the area.

“This kind of operation has been shown to have a major impact in the area, and it is a good example of joined-up working with Barnet borough.”

Officers also spoke to six drivers whose cars had overly-tinted windows, as they stopped cars which showed up on police database after the numberplate had been read.

Sgt Meeke said that Waterfall Road, Arnos Grove, and Morton Way are all roads on which motorists are known to speed, and a visible presence by police helps to combat the problem.

She added that heavy-goods vehicles have been breaking the law by using roads through Southgate Green and Bowes to avoid the queues along the A406 where expansion work is being carried out, and the ANPR operations are a tool police are using to deter that practice.

The seized vehicles have now been taken away by officers, and the owners will have to produce the appropriate paperwork to claim them back.