A combined operation by six police forces to stamp out auto-crime has led to 665 arrests, with officers saying vehicle thieves have suffered a considerable setback.

And North Yorkshire Police say they expect many more arrests to follow Operation Outlaw, which ended on Sunday.

The clamp down, which also involved the Cumbria, Durham, Cleveland, and Northumbria forces and British Transport Police, was launched on September 18.

The forces ran a series of cross-border initiatives, including the exchange of intelligence on offenders, checks on the ownership of Q-registered vehicles, and raids of lock-up garages.

As well as the 665 arrests for auto-crime, 300 vehicles worth £360,000 were recovered. In addition 497 garages and other premises were searched, leading to the seizure of a further 21 vehicles and 26 garages contained other items of stolen property.

Of the 202 Q-plate vehicles examined 42 were confirmed as stolen.

Durham officers co-ordinated the operation, and their head of CID, Detective Superintendent David Grey, said he was excited and encouraged by its "tremendous successes".

He added: "Outlaw has put vehicle criminals firmly on the back foot, and I am sure will see significant falls in recorded crime because of what we have been doing over the past month."

Detective Superintendent Ian Lynch, head of North Yorkshire CID, said the benefits of Outlaw would run well into the future.

"Intelligence is the lifeblood of a crime-fighting force, and we have gathered a vast amount of information in this operation.

"We will be sifting and analysing this intelligence in conjunction with our colleagues in the other forces, and we are already making long-term plans for investigations, raids and arrests in the weeks and months to come.

"Operation Outlaw has already sent a clear and determined message to the region's criminals and would-be criminals. I am here to tell them this is only the beginning we'll be back."