Dorset Police is targeting those who use the county’s road network to commit crime.

The Interceptor team of uniformed officers will tackle criminals using the road network who are involved in crimes, such as county lines drug dealing, human trafficking, modern slavery, burglary and vehicle crime.

They will also carry out proactive stops of vehicles from out of county where they receive intelligence that they are involved in criminality, such as through automatic number plate activations.

In addition, they will also target high-risk road users – known as Operation Dragoon targets – to ensure the roads are safe for all, complementing the work of the roads policing team and well-known No Excuse initiative.

The officers will use a mixture of Interceptor team marked and unmarked high-performance vehicles to target offenders with the latest high-tech equipment, enabling officers to check various policing systems for intelligence from within the vehicle.

Assistant chief constable Steve Lyne said: “Our vision is to make Dorset a safe county for everyone through our relentless pursuit of criminals and this new team will enhance the hard work and dedication of our existing teams who serve our communities 24/7.

“Vehicles travel around 3.5 billion miles on Dorset’s network of 3,080 miles of roads each year and we recognise that vehicle use is often the primary mode of transport for criminals.

“These officers have the highest possible driving skills available in Dorset and will take the fight back to the criminals; targeting those who cause the most harm to our communities.

“Our message is clear – if you use our roads to enable your offending, you’re highly likely to be caught and put before the courts.”

David Sidwick, Dorset police and crime commissioner, said: “Putting the funding in place for this new team has been a vital step forward in taking the fight to the criminals that use our road network in order to commit serious crime in our county.

“Intelligence led, proactive, collaborative policing is exactly what I want to see from Dorset Police and I look forward to hearing about the many successes that I’m sure this team will have over the next weeks and months. The message to the criminals is clear – Dorset is no place for you – think again – the Interceptors are waiting.”