Three men arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods as nearly £500,000 of misappropriated 'valuable' farming machinery recovered by Hampshire and Dorset police

Search warrants were executed at two rural locations in East Dorset on June 14.

Hampshire Constabulary and Dorset Police formed a partnership as part of Operation Hardware, in a bid to tackle organised crime.

The investigation was formed following a suspicious incident where a vehicle, on the A338, mounted a grass area and disappeared when it was being tailed by police.

It later transpired that it was stolen from London.

The number plates were cloned from a vehicle out of the county, so the insured driver was not the legal owner.

This allowed officers to search their home address.

A wider search followed, with several vehicles reported stolen from Dorset and Essex being found and seized.

Plant and agricultural machinery was also recovered, as well as a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) making machine.

A man from East Dorset, 21, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, theft, and handling stolen goods.

A 47-year-old male from East Dorset was also detained on suspicion of theft and handling stolen goods, with an 82-year-old man from the same area arrested for the latter charge.

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They have been released under investigation.

Police Constable Adrian Woodhead, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: ‘This cross-border operation highlights the importance, and value, of working closely together with our neighbouring forces.

‘The joint operation with Dorset Police has helped to not only recover valuable plant and farm machinery – which we’ll be working to locate their rightful owners – but has also helped to disrupt what we believe to be organised criminal activity.’