A total of £1.5 million in cash and assets has been taken from criminals locally in less than two years.

The figure was revealed as detectives in the Airedale and North Bradford police division’s POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act) launched a series of raids across Keighley this week.

They made four arrests for fraud related crime and recovered a number of expensive vehicles, including a BMW X5 and a BMW M3.

The cars will be held by the police until a court grants a confiscation order.

The POCA team said they were determined to leave criminals empty handed and the money seized will be pumped back into projects designed to benefit local communities.

The week of action is part of a regional campaign called “Why should they?” This encourages people to report those who they suspect of benefiting from the proceeds of crime.

It also marks the first week of concerted action carried out by the POCA unit, which is the first dedicated team of its type in Airedale and North Bradford.

Recent cases the team has been involved in include an investigation into an alleged £500,000 fraud in Keighley for which two local men were arrested in October.

They have been bailed pending further inquiries.

The head of the unit, Det Sgt Richard Nixon, said: “We are very pleased with the results of the week of action so far.

“Financial and fraud investigations are often lengthy and very detailed but with the resources we now have we are confident we can really punish criminals where it hurts — in their wallets.

“When they get large amounts of cash they always tend to spend it and there’s always an audit trail to follow.

“We have the ability to get a restraint order which stops them disposing of these assets before the confiscation hearing in court.

“Criminals find this very disruptive.”

He said links with police forces in other countries enabled him and his colleagues to go after ill-gotten gains hidden overseas.

Detective Chief Inspector Mabs Hussain, the head of Airedale and North Bradford CID, said: "Putting the POCA team in place has been a big step forward for us as a division.

"It gives us an excellent capability regarding fraud to take the fight to criminals in our area, which is exactly what we have been doing."

He said banks were helping detectives follow the paper trail left by criminals who launder money through buying property, valuable cars or other costly items.

He said the POCA unit receives good quality intelligence from the public and from officers in the various neighbourhood policing teams.

He added: "For many of us there are few things more galling than thinking a neighbour is living the high life through crime.

"I would encourage anyone who thinks they may know someone earning a living illegally to contact us through the ‘Why should they?’ campaign at Crimestoppers.

"I can guarantee you we will investigate, we will be knocking on doors and we will be taking action."

People can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or find out more details about the campaign at whyshouldthey.com.