A crime-cracking operation carried out by four police forces on the borders of Craven yielded a number of arrests and a large amount of intelligence.

Operation Outmost is a collaboration between officers in North and West Yorkshire, Lancashire and the British Transport Police and is designed to tackle criminals crossing the Craven border.

Lancashire Constabulary checked drivers on the A56 and A59 heading into Skipton and the Lancashire police helicopter helped in the arrest of a suspect.

West Yorkshire Police were at work on the A629 between Skipton and Keighley, while North Yorkshire officers targeted South Craven roads, particularly in Cross Hills. Many of the checks were high visibility to deter law breakers and every driver stopped was given a leaflet about the operation.

British Transport Police were based at Skipton railway station.

As a result of the operation, a Barnoldswick man was arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of making threats to kill and of going equipped to steal. Another man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of being a disqualified driver.

Officers from all forces are now analysing a "large quantity" of intelligence.

A quarter of crime committed in North Yorkshire is by people from outside the county, particularly in "border" areas like Craven.

Stuart Barrick, of Western CID, said the two aims of the operation - part of North Yorkshire's hard-hitting Operation Delivery - had been achieved. These were gathering intelligence and sending a message to the travelling criminals.

He said: "In North Yorkshire alone we checked 140 vehicles and the people in them and together with the results from the other forces we are now looking at a large quantity of intelligence - and intelligence is our lifeblood when it comes to travelling criminals.

"We have a lot more information on who goes where, when and who travels with them; all four forces will use this information and use it for future plans and operations. We have a wealth of data on people in whom we have a professional interest."

The operation will be repeated over the coming weeks and will include automatic number plate recognition technology which scans vehicle registration numbers and enters the data into a central computer.

"This will then bring up any details which the police have about the vehicle. This equipment will be used in both covert and high visibility initiatives.

West Yorkshire Police carried out road checks on the A629 Aire Valley Trunk Road near Silsden and 161 vehicles were stopped and inspected.

One stolen vehicle was seized by police officers and Customs and Excise identified vans running on "red diesel" - fuel on which no Excise Duty has been paid. Several vehicles were prohibited by the vehicle inspectorate for road traffic offences.

Meanwhile Trading Standards caught two individuals wearing uniforms worn by council contractors. They were driving a van containing Tarmac and building materials, but were not official council workers.

Similarly British Gas contractor signs were seized from a person claiming to be working for British Gas, but who was not an official employee.