Police arrested five men and seized four high-value cars in a swoop on garages to combat a suspected £500,000 vehicle fraud.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, together with West Yorkshire Trading Standards, executed search warrants at garages on Bradford Street, Keighley; Grosvenor Road, Manningham, Bradford; Haycliffe Lane, Little Horton, Bradford, and Commercial Road, Dewsbury.

The searches formed part of an investigation into expensive vehicles that have had their hire purchase information (HPI) status altered to be sold on at a higher value. A Porsche and two Audis were among the cars seized and a quantity of cash was recovered.

A total of 52 cars were found to have been written off by an insurance company only to be badly repaired and then sold on to unsuspecting customers at a higher rate.

All of the owners whose vehicles have had their histories edited have been notified.

The HPI checks on these vehicles were shown as being clear with no acknowledgement to the damage that had previously been caused.

The men, aged 44, 38, 33, 31, and 26 were all arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud and were being questioned by detectives.