A TEAM of police officers from Holland have visited North Yorkshire to learn more about road policing in the region.

Three Dutch officers from Politie Amsterdam spent four days working alongside North Yorkshire Police, learning new skills, and assisting with the arrest of a suspected drink-driver.

Two officers from the Amsterdam Team Opium Weapons and Unmarked Surveillance unit (TOWOS) and one officer from the Driver Training unit - Sergeants Thijs Eekhof, Wilfred De Vires and Dennis Hagendoorn - took part in two days of intensive training with the Road Crime Team.

Last November, two members of North Yorkshire Police’s Road Crime Team travelled to Amsterdam to share their experience with Politie Amsterdam, and this marked the return trip for officers to share tactics and experiences.

The officers spent two days working on the roads of North Yorkshire, learning more about how police here search vehicles for hidden compartments and arrest offenders.

PC Mick Roffe, of the Road Crime Team, said: “This international collaboration has cemented the professional relationships between the two teams, and has opened the door to wider collaboration, such as the sharing of driver training and the use of ANPR.”

The Dutch officers also visited the ANPR Hub, based in Fulford Road, which is the UK’s lead ANPR hub, used to disrupt cross-border criminals using North Yorkshire’s road network.

While working with the force, the Dutch officers joined the Road Crime Team on Operation Hawk, making arrests and searching known offenders.

During their deployment, one arrest came from a Dutch officer spotting a vehicle registered in Germany.

Using his Politie mobile device, he found the vehicle was incorrectly registered, entitling the UK officers to stop it.

A police spokesman said the driver was found to be twice the legal drink-drive limit and was arrested, and later bailed.

PC Roffe said: “The future of this joint working is bright and can only serve to benefit both the residents of North Yorkshire and Amsterdam alike.”

Recent figures showed North Yorkshire Police’s Road Crime Team arrested nine suspects, recovered 11 vehicles and seized property - including drugs, cash and stolen vehicles - to the value of £57,000 in August 2016 alone.