TRAVELLING thieves are facing a ring of steel' as police bid to make East Lancashire a no-go zone for out-of-town criminals.

Police chiefs are using a variety of crime-busting measures to keep criminals out of the area as part of Operation Thunder.

Hundreds of officers have been assigned to work on the operation, in liaison with West Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire, and is aimed at preventing high-performance vehicle thefts and catching criminals.

It follows a string of incidents in the area over recent months in which top-of-the-range cars were targeted by crooks thought to be travelling from Yorkshire.

As part of the operation running in the Ribble Valley, Hyndburn, Blackburn and Darwen, this week, extra uniformed and plain-clothed officers will be on patrol, including specialists from the motorway police and dog units.

Police will be using the high-tech Automatic Number Plate Recognition System on key roads, including those bordering Yorkshire and setting up check points.

ANPR is used by police to read the registration numbers of passing cars and check them against various databases.

Detective Inspector Joanne Lightbown said: "We are placing a ring of steel around the area.

"The message is that if people are travelling into our area and committing crime they are now more likely to get stopped and caught out."

Cars worth around £100,000 have been stolen in the past month.

In the latest incident, thieves broke into a house in Ulverston Drive, Rishton, while the owners were in bed, and stole car keys for their two BMWs.

Thieves also targeted a house in Browgate, Sawley, near Clitheroe on November 1. A set of keys were stolen for a £45,000 Ranger Rover.

It was taken from the driveway but later recovered on the M1.

A similar operation was launched in Rossendale earlier this year to tackle the problem with criminals travelling into the Valley from Greater Manchester.

More than 1,500 motorists were stopped by officers during the operation.