HUNT ON TO SEIZE CARS VALUED AT £300,000

The vehicles are part of a £700,000 theft ring, smashed by pro-active detectives with Brighton police.

Sixteen stolen Mercedes, BMWs and Mitsubishi Shoguns, worth more than £400,000, have already been recovered and today, police took the unusual step of releasing registration details of nine other top cars they intend seizing, worth another £300,000.

Until now, the innocent owners have been unaware their pride and joys are stolen - and that they stand to lose them.

Police are asking members of the public who spot them to get in touch.

They also want the owners to come forward, even though their vehicles will be seized and that they are unlikely to recover the tens of thousands of pounds they paid for them, unless they take civil action.

Det Insp Vic Marshall, of Brighton CID, said: "I have every sympathy for the people who bought these cars innocently and in good faith, but their cooperation will assist us greatly and will help trace where the vehicles came from.

"And, I am afraid, if they do not come forward then the likelihood is that they will be stopped by police and their vehicles taken away anyway."

An off-duty detective working on the case, Operation Abandon, recovered one of the stolen cars in St James's Street, Brighton, earlier this week. A man was arrested and has been released on bail.

Three men aged 41, 42, and 50, all from Hove, have been arrested.

All the cars involved are from Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire and London.

The vehicles police are looking for are: Mitsubishi Shogun, red, index N313 0GF; Shogun, silver, N164 JLW; Nissan Skyline, red, M745 GGF; BMW convertible, silver, P196 YGF; BMW convertible, grey, P503 PKJ; Mitsubishi Space Runner, blue, M150 FWV; Mercedes 300sl, blue, J952 JKO; Mercedes C250D coupe, red, P514 PKJ; and BMW 325tds, blue, N611 OGF.

Contact Operation Abandon on 0845 60 70 999.

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