Nine vehicles were seized and at least two men arrested in Lewisham last night after police attempted to clamp down on catalytic converter thefts in the borough.

Met Police in Lewisham said that a coordinated action across the borough reaped rewards with the assistance of neighbouring police teams from Bexley, Greenwich and specialist officers.

The actions were coordinated using the national Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology ANPR, police added.

"Last night, our officers from @MPSLewisham @MPSBexley, @MPSGreenwich & @MPSSpecials along side our Car Pound team took part in a pre-planned ANPR operation in partnership with the local authority’s crime enforcement aimed at targeting violent crime and catalytic converter thefts," a spokesperson for Lewisham MPS said.

"2 arrests were made and 20 Traffic report issued along with 9 vehicle seizures for no insurance," they added.

Catalytic converters are components attached to car exhausts that help regulate emissions of the vehicle.

The components are often made using alloys that include precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium, and are a common target for would-be thieves due to the value of the metals used.