A RIFLE, ammunition and 735 packets of tobacco were recovered in Prescot as part of a swoop targeting suspected rogue traders.

In all, 11 people were arrested across the region and nearly 500 vehicles stopped in the first three days of the Merseyside Police operation to combat fraudsters and doorstep crime.

Merseyside Police teamed up with partners including Trading Standards, DVLA, Customs & Excise, Environmental Health, Waste Management, Taxi Licensing and Land Registry to take part in a national day of action as part of a week-long crime prevention initiative, Operation Rogue Trader.

In Prescot, Trading Standards officers have now taken over the seizure of the tobacco and will deal with the investigation and prosecution.

Operation Rogue Trader officers also assisted in the recovery of several bikes after 19 quad bikes were reported as having been stolen from an address in Knowsley at around 6.30am on Wednesday, September 30.

The bikes were fitted with tracker devices and within a few hours all the quad bikes had been recovered and five people arrested.

The 11 arrests included one on suspicion of possession of a firearm and ammunition, five on suspicion of burglary, one on suspicion of harassment, one on suspicion of possession of a Class B drugs and one on suspicion of assault.

In the first three days of this week Operation Rogue Trader resulted in:

• Arrests – 11

• Leaflets Delivered – 5,550

• Visits to Premises – 452

• Surgeries / Neighbourhood Watch meetings – 16

• Visits to vulnerable persons - 97

• Vehicles stopped – 479

• OSCO’s (motoring offences detected) – 34

• Vehicle Prohibition Notices – 6

• Trading Standards Action / Advice – 112

• Intelligence reports – 29

• Property Seized – 735 packs of tobacco

• Seized Firearms – 1 rifle

• Seized Ammunition – 6 rounds

• Vehicles Seized – 10

• Taxi Licensing Notices – 15

• Land Registry Leaflets Distributed – 500

• Home Improvement Forms – 8

• Environmental Health Tickets – 5

• Environmental Health Warnings – 5

• Fixed Penalty Notices – 14

• VOSA / DVLA Checks – 32

• Breath Tests – 5

• Warrants – 1