Police find stolen vehicles and cannabis plants in Doncaster 'chop shop'

While tracking a stolen BMW on Friday 1 September, officers discovered a locked compound on Holmes Carr Industrial Estate in Rossington. Inside, they found a significant cannabis cultivation and several stolen vehicles from various parts of the country.

Local intelligence officer Matthew Woodhall of Operation Fortify said: “We were tracking a stolen BMW from Grantham in Lincolnshire which led us to the compound.

“We used a small camera to conduct a search of the unit and found a Toyota and a Lexus which had both been stolen from London. There was also the stolen BMW from Grantham and a stolen BMW X3 which had been stripped down for its parts.

“Another stolen BMW from Warwickshire was also in the compound along with a stolen Skoda Kodiac from Sheffield and two stolen Kia Sportage cars from Barnet and Essex.”

A ‘chop shop’ is the name used to describe an area where stolen cars are taken apart so that their parts can be sold separately.

Photographs taken inside the compound show at least 10 car doors stacked in a row down the side of a wall as well as a car in the process of being stripped for parts.

During a search of the unit, officers also discovered and seized over 40 cannabis plants from the premises in Holmes Carr Road. CCTV has been recovered from the compound and forensic examinations are underway.

Detective Sergeant Mark Jones of Operation Fortify said: “This was a brilliant find by the Fortify team as we continue to tackle serious violent crime and organised criminality in Doncaster and South Yorkshire.

“Pictures taken from the unit show that this was a sophisticated operation with stolen vehicles and vehicle parts from all over the country locked up inside the compound.

“We know the impact car theft can have on people. That’s why it’s so important for us to work with other forces across the nation to trace stolen vehicles and tear apart these ‘chop shops’.

“I hope this sends out a clear and strong message to those trying to profit from stolen vehicles that we will use all the tools and resources available to crack down on this kind of criminality and put a stop to it once and for all.”

Anyone with any information about this is asked to call 101, quoting incident number 396 of 1 September 2023. Alternatively, if you wish to stay anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.