Police seized a transit van today after it was flagged up as stolen on a surveillance system.

Surrey Roads Policing Unit stopped the van in London Road, Ewell, at about 1.30pm when its number plate showed up as being stolen from South West London.

Epsom and Ewell Safer Neighbourhood Team said on Facebook: "The driver was let on his way after initial investigations showed that the van was bought in good faith.

"The Metropolitan Police will be continuing investigations into the vehicle theft, it is unfortunate for the driver, but it is a good result for the team."

Police use a tool called automatic number plate recognition which reads number plates and checks them against police and licensing agency databases.