A 'HUGE' speeding tickets fraud in which motorists have paid up to £500 to avoid prosecution has been uncovered, police said.

In return for the money, officers suspect a man used fake identities for the fines and penalty points.

Around 50 officers arrested 15 people, including an 80-year-old man, after launching a series of raids across Blackburn early this morning.

It followed an investigation into more than 100 suspected cases of East Lancashire motorists dodging' speeding tickets.

And officers said that they believed the arrests may be the "tip of the iceberg" as they have uncovered evidence of the scam going back five years.

The investigation focuses on allegations that speeding motorists were avoiding prosecution by paying someone to take the blame for driving at the time of the offence.

Police believe one man may have been heading up the operation by using a stash of driving licences and fake IDs.

"It is thought that he was circulating details of his services by word of mouth.

He is suspected to have been charging between £200 and £500 to take the blame for the speeding fine by using one of the fake identities.

Investigations will now focus on the origin of the fake driving licences which were used during the alleged scam, with one line of inquiry that the criminals heading the networks were sitting driving tests under different aliases.

The raids were the first of their kind in Lancashire and one of the first in the country, following months of investigation, which included studying footage from speed cameras to see who was driving the car.

Detectives said that the early morning raids were the start of a series in East Lancashire with more to come in the coming weeks in the Burnley and Pendle areas.

Chief Inspector Terry Woods said: "This operation should demonstrate our determination to take firm action against anyone suspected of dishonestly avoiding liability for speed camera offences.

"This is the first operation of its kind in East Lancashire but it is a huge problem and these arrests are just the tip of the iceberg."

He said there would be a lot of people left uncomfortable' at hearing of the police action.

Mr Woods said: "Motorists should be aware that passing speed camera endorsements to another person is a serious criminal offence and anyone found to be breaking the law in this way will be dealt with robustly."

PC Mark Pilkington, who has led the investigation, said: "This is not only a local issue but national and one that we are determined to tackle.

"We will continue to work with the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety to investigate matters of this nature and will be carrying out similar operations in the future."

Arrests were made in Cedar Street, Lancaster Place, Beardwood Brow, Preston New Road, Providence Street, Logwood Street, Westbury Gardens, Romney Walk, Lois Place, Newbank Road, Billinge Avenue, Maltham Gardens, Florence Street and Addison Street.

Twelve men and three women were last night being held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

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