OWNERS of second-hand shops may be issued with cameras to take photographs of customers in a revolutionary bid to stamp out sale of stolen goods.

Police and council officers in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale are looking into the legality of the scheme as part of Operation Freedom which has seen car crime cut by half in three weeks.

In future, as part of their operating licence, second-hand goods dealers may be required to take photographs and record details of people selling them property.

PC Philip Buck said: "We are aware of the possible criticisms from the civil rights organisations, but what about the rights of the victim of burglaries and crime?"

He said: "What happens now is that someone goes into a shop and says he is Joe Smith and wants to sell an item of property. He gets a reasonable price, but later if we discover the item to be stolen all we have is the name, which of course is false.

"A photograph would help us trace the seller and question him about where the property came from." Burnley's crime prevention officer Trish Ellins added: "People with nothing to hide have nothing to fear, and I would not object to having my photograph taken in those circumstances."

The idea was put forward at a meeting this week between the public safety officers of the three local authorities and officers working on Operation Freedom targeting car crime throughout the Pennine Division.

PC Buck said: "There has been a successful pilot scheme in Bradford and we shall be contacting them for information.

"We are also looking at other ways of tightening up the licence regulations with regard to dealers."

Thousands of pounds worth of suspected stolen property, much of it from auto crime, has been recovered from various commercial premises throughout the division in the last three weeks.

About £20,000 worth of heavy duty power tools including a generator were recovered from one stall at Clitheroe car boot sale.

PC Buck added: "We have been back and it was noticeable that one or two traders were not there this weekend.

"Our aim is to disrupt the sale of stolen goods at all outlets, including second-hand shops, car boot sales and pubs."

Dealers in new and second-hand cars are joining Operation Freedom by issuing advice on how to combat car crime.

Six stolen cars were recovered from the Thursden Valley this week. Four were stolen from Todmorden and two from Burnley before being abandoned in the isolated country area.