A crackdown on suspicious vehicles has rooted out two benefits cheats and an illegal immigrant - and more operations are planned.
Hounslow police and council staff used an automatic number plate reader in Cranford to identify suspect vehicles to track down rogue traders who target the elderley and vulnerable in Operation Liberal.
Cllr Phil Andrews, lead member for community safety at the council, said: "These traders prey on the most vulnerable members of the community.They offer to make unnecessary repairs to things like fences, driveways or gutters, and then overcharge for shoddy work. Often, they distract the householder while associates burgle the house of money and jewellery."
Forty-five vehicles were stopped in the operation and thirteen offences are now being investigated including two cases of council tax fraud, faulty vehicles and road traffic offences.
