A two-day police operation saw 17 stolen vehicles recovered – including a delivery van containging parcels – and 14 arrests made.

On September 28 and 29, Met and Kent police carried out Operation Huntsman, focussing on areas around the A2 and A20, including Bexley Village, Crayford, Slade Green and Erith.

Automated number plate recognition (ANPR) technology was used to track down offenders.

Sixty officers came together to tackle a rise in vehicle crimes and 15 vehicles were seized and 16 traffic offences were reported.

Arrests were made for suspected offences including robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, possession with intent to supply class-A drugs, dangerous driving and failing to stop for police.

Two of the people who were arrested have been charged with more minor offences and the remainder have been released under investigation or bailed while inquiries continue.

Stolen vehicles included a BMW, a Jaguar and a delivery van containing parcels.

Several weapons were also found, including knives, a baseball bat and a stun gun.

The operation built on the work of a new motor vehicle crime unit which was set up by the Met’s South East Command Unit a year ago after concerns were raised by Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham residents.

These areas have seen a rise in offences – particularly high-value keyless car thefts and catalytic converter thefts.

Last year there were 2,608 vehicle thefts in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

From January to September this year, almost 300 of one make of vehicle alone were stolen from Greenwich, Lewisham, Bromley, Dartford and Sevenoaks.

Of 4,606 offences of theft from a vehicle, 18% were of catalytic converters.

A number of these have been violent offences with gangs arming themselves with baseball bats, iron bars, machetes and BB guns.

Offenders also use the vehicles to commit other crimes and officers have spent the last year gathering information about individuals and organised crime gangs and carrying out a range of operations.

These have concentrated on violent criminals and vehicle thieves who cross the Met/Kent border to commit offences.

In February, police managed to recover a pistol, silencer and 11 rounds of ammunition linked to the theft of a high-value car in Bexley.

'The rise in motor vehicle crime has had a big impact on the lives of many of our residents and we’ve taken significant action over the last 12 months to tackle this issue...'

Chief Inspector Russ Joao, from South East Command Unit, said: "We’ve really listened to what local people have been telling us they are concerned about.

"The rise in motor vehicle crime has had a big impact on the lives of many of our residents and we’ve taken significant action over the last 12 months to tackle this issue.

"Alongside our new proactive unit working day in and day out, Operation Huntsman allowed us to work with colleagues in Kent Police to actively target offenders with some great results.

"Our work does not stop here and there will be more operations in the future as well as crime prevention initiatives, such as catalytic converter marking events, to help people avoid becoming a victim of this type of offence."