Three arrested after illegal vehicle repair shop discovered in Redditch

A teenage boy and two men from Coventry have been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and the theft of a motorcycle. 

The arrests were made following the discovery of a ‘chop shop’ in Arrow Road North, Redditch on 18 June where a large quantity of vehicle parts, believed to be stolen, were found. 

The males, aged, 17, 18 and 26 have been bailed to return to Kidderminster Police Station in July.

What is a chop shop?

A chop shop is a business, often mimicking a car body repair shop, which illicitly strips stolen cars for parts.  Sometimes cars are stolen to order to obtain specific parts to repair an individual vehicle, or serial numbers are removed from parts and sold online to unwitting buyers.

Chop shops are dangerous and provide a thriving market for car thieves. Botched-together vehicles can be sold on legitimate websites to innocent buyers who purchase dangerous, unsafe cars. They are putting lives at risk, creating a demand for stolen cars, and damaging the reputation of legitimate vehicle repair body shops and salvage yards.

What are the signs of a chop shop?

• Suspicious and noisy activity around industrial units, often at odd times of day or night.
• Vehicles that look out of place going into workshops or locations and not coming back out.
• Shipping containers in unusual locations.
• Expensive items, such as engines and gearboxes, stored outside and out of place, such as gardens.
• Items for sale via on-line auction sites from the same seller, often in large quantities of the same or similar items.

You can help us tackle vehicle crime by:

• Always keeping your vehicle locked.
• Using a visual deterrent.
• Keeping your keys or fob in a Faraday pouch which has a special lining which means thieves can’t ‘steal’ the key’s frequency to open your car.

If you suspect that a chop shop is operating near you, or recognise some of the signs please report it.  You can do this by using our ‘Tell Us About’ page on our website: Something you've seen or heard | West Mercia Police   Alternatively you can call us on 101 or by ringing Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Issued by MN, Corporate Communications