Stolen car found 100 miles away at 'chop shop'

A chop shop, with two stripped down cars, including a white MercedesImage source, Wiltshire Police
Image caption,

The "chop shop" was discovered 100 miles (160km) from where the Wiltshire burglary happened

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Officers have found a high value car more than 100 miles (160km) from where it was stolen.

Three high value vehicles - an Audi S3, a BM2 x3 and a Volkswagen California van - were stolen from an address in Hullavington, Wiltshire on 3 May.

A Wiltshire Police investigation led officers to Coventry, where they found the Audi on the forecourt of a "chop shop".

The discovery of the illegal garage has led officers to locate other stolen vehicles.

The Audi was found with cloned number plates, and two partially stripped stolen vehicles were also found.

Officers uncovered a significant amount of car parts, thought to have been taken from other stolen vehicles, too.

Investigations directly linked the garage to the theft of two more high value vehicles.

In addition to this, a stolen Ford Fiesta ST on cloned plates was found and the total value of stolen property is suspected to be worth well in excess of £150,000.

Image source, Wiltshire Police
Image caption,

A "serious organised crime group" was behind the operation, Wiltshire Police said

PC Jack Williams, from Wiltshire Police's County Burglary team, said: "Thanks to the quick reactions of Burglary Team we were able to locate and recover a high value stolen vehicle prior to it inevitably being broken down into parts and sold on.

"We were also able to disrupt a serious organised crime group and a joint investigation will continue with West Midlands Police."