MOTORWAY police in Lancashire have praised a new high-tech system for recognising car number plates that helped to find a missing teenager near Blackpool.

The Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system is a camera linked to a computer which can read car number plates and check if the car is reported stolen or needs to be stopped and checked by officers.

And it traced the teenage girl during routine checks on traffic travelling to the Golf Open Championship on the M55.

Samantha Davies, aged 15, from Lampeter, went missing from home with her 25-year-old boyfriend Arfon Jones on June13. Their details -- along with details of the car they were believed to have been travelling in -- had been circulated to police forces nationally.

As part of the security operation for the Golf Open, police patrols were checking vehicles travelling in and out of the Blackpool area on the M55 when the ANPR picked up the missing pair's car on July 18.

Inspector Peter Stas of the motorway unit, said: "As a direct result of the ANPR the officers were able to stop the vehicle and thankfully both the girl and her boyfriend have now returned home to their respective families.

"The new ANPR equipment is already proving to be an excellent tool for tracing criminals and stolen cars."

Arrest

Two police cars deployed on the M55 during the week of the Open Golf Championship read more than 50,000 number plates. There were a number of "hits" including an arrest for disqualified driving and theft.

The system was initially developed to prevent terrorist attacks around inner London and has been in use by motorway patrol units for 12 months.