NORTH Yorkshire Police is to receive a cash boost of more than £30,000 as a reward for its hard work in seizing assets from criminals, the Home Office has announced.

The force will get £31,890.12 of the £28.6 million worth of criminal assets confiscated by police forces and other asset recovery agencies between April and June this year.

Of the £28.6 million, £14.3 million is to be shared between police, prosecutors and courts, with £5.97 million being given to police forces in England and Wales. Since the Proceeds Of Crime Act came into effect in 2003, £497 million has been seized. An incentive scheme introduced in 2006 allows the police and recovery agencies to retain half of all cash they seize from criminals.

Detective Inspector Ian Wills, head of the financial investigation unit at North Yorkshire Police, said: “We welcome the extra cash, particularly in the knowledge that it has been confiscated from the criminal community’s illegal gains. Police are making more and more use of the powers to seize assets from criminals and it is very pleasing that some of that money is being put back into policing.

“People who commit crime within our communities should understand that North Yorkshire Police will not only strive to convict them of those offences, but will also take every available penny of the benefit they have gained from their offending.”

Home Office minister Alan Campbell said: “The incentive scheme is a great benefit for policing. Taking money from criminals makes crime far less profitable for them. At the same time, that money is ploughed directly back into the police force that seized it so they can strengthen their fight against crime in their area. Recovering almost £30 million from criminals in the space of three months is a great achievement and I want to thank the police and other partners for their hard work in seizing the money.”