REPORTS of alleged cold callers in York led to a man having his car seized.

North Yorkshire Police received “a number of calls from vigilant members of the public” on Tuesday evening about two men who were alleged to be ‘cold calling’ in the New Earswick area.

A police spokesman said the men claimed “they had fallen on hard times”, and were offering to sell cleaning products, then drove off in a BMW 3-series car.

The car was stopped by police near Easingwold at about 8.45pm, and the driver was issued with a Traffic Offence Report for driving without insurance, and his car was seized.

One resident said on social media: “Amazing top quality work! Spoke to an officer dealing with this outside my property! So a massive thank you for acting so quickly and doing the work you all do to protect us all. What an outstanding timescale too!”

The spokesman said: “We’re very grateful to local residents who did exactly the right thing by contacting North Yorkshire Police about the suspicious activity in their community.

“We’d remind people that if you’re not sure who is at your door, simply don’t open it, and consider calling a neighbour or friend nearby to come along and check out a caller before you open the door to them.”