Four people believed to be involved in a major motoring insurance scam known as "crash for cash" have been arrested in dawn raids.

West Yorkshire Police swooped on homes in and around Keighley town centre yesterday morning, seizing a large number of financial documents and a high value motor vehicle.

The four people arrested, including one woman, are suspected of being involved in staging motor accidents. They were being questioned by detectives last night.

Crash for cash scams involve staging or contriving collisions or inducing innocent motorists into having collisions with the purpose of making a claim, often including several accounts of fictitious injuries.

For each successful scam, criminals can net in excess of £30,000.

Investigators from the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) worked for three months with detectives from West Yorkshire Police to put together the operation in Keighley.

Detective Inspector John Mountain, of Keighley CID, said: "Innocent policy holders are paying for this kind of crime. Fraud increases the average premium by five per cent or around £40."