EXTRA police officers will be patrolling Worcestershire's roads this week looking for foreign criminals moving around the country to avoid detection.

Officers from West Mercia will work alongside the Central Motorway Policing Group (CMPG) to target those involved in crimes such as shoplifting, fraud, metal theft, burglary, supply and importation of drugs, money laundering or human trafficking for prostitution.

Officers will use intelligence to stop vehicles of interest and establish if anyone in them is wanted for any offences.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) will also be used to stop and disrupt criminal operations.

A range of other agencies including HM Revenue and Customs, Trading Standards, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and County Council Animal Welfare unit will also be providing specialist support to the operation.

The road patrols are part of Operation Trivium, a nationwide crackdown on overseas offenders.

We reported yesterday how, as part of the Operation, nail bars in Worcester city centre had been raided.

Three men were arrested including two from South East Asia who were believed to be in the country illegally.

Another man, a rough sleeper from Poland, was arrested with a view to being deported after becoming an anti-social nuisance.

Sergeant Jem Mountford, from West Mercia Police, said: "This will be our eighth time we have run Operation Trivium, and it has been a successful deterrent.

"There is an assumption that foreign nationals who commit crime in the United Kingdom are invincible, and that the road network is an easy way to facilitate such criminal activity.

"It is week-long operations like this that demonstrate our commitment to cross-border policing and partnership working to show that borders are no barrier to justice."

Operation Trivium started on Monday and will run until Friday, May 19.

The results of the extra patrols will be made public next week.