MORE than £30,000 of cash and assets seized from criminals will be ploughed back into North Yorkshire Police.

The force is one of 43 across England and Wales to have received a share of £13m of seized ill-gotten gains, according to the Home Office.

Police chiefs in the county scooped £31,258 for helping claw back money from offenders under the new Proceeds Of Crime Act.

It comes less than a month after senior officers announced they had confiscated £100,000 from a North Yorkshire charity fraudster who targeted supermarket customers.

The force is one of seven to have joined together under Operation Payback, which aims to make sure criminals do not rake in profits after breaking the law.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "We are very pleased that criminal asset recovery is part of the armoury of crime fighting. This was demonstrated by our recent confiscation of £100,000 from a charity fraudster who targeted supermarket customers.

"It is good that ill-gotten gains can be turned around to fund policing so that all North Yorkshire residents can benefit from our success."

Each force receives a sum linked to the value of cash and property they confiscated and put into a central pot.

The forces were sharing one-third of all the assets seized above £40million.

Next year the proportion will rise to 50 per cent to encourage police to go after crime gangs' empires. In 2004, a total of £84m was seized - up from £54.5m a year earlier.

Last year, the Evening Press revealed how cash and property worth £152,000 was seized from criminals in just six months. Assets worth up to £200,000 including cars and electronic goods were also frozen.

Up to 60 individuals in York and across the county came under scrutiny by specialists who focused on financial paper trails and suspicious possessions.

Crime Minister Paul Goggins said: "This achievement sends a clear message to criminals: Crime does not pay and profiting from crime will not be tolerated. Recovering criminal assets is a vital part of the Government's strategy to cut crime and make the criminal justice system more effective."

Community groups also benefit under the asset recovery scheme. The Home Office is committed to putting £7m a year into crime reduction projects such as high-profile anti-gun initiatives.

Updated: 09:30 Thursday, June 16, 2005