Two men from Hackney were arrested by Surrey Police in Tadworth yesterday (May 21) amid the latest spate of catalytic converter thefts in the area.

Earlier in the week Surrey Police issued a warning to residents as more catalytic converters had been stolen from vehicles in the Epsom-Tadworth area.

As the Comet reported earlier this year, this is not the first instance of such a crime in the borough, with a number of such thefts reported in Epsom in 2020 already.

Thieves target certain vehicles for the high-value metals that the converters, attached to the exhaust pipe, are made from.

Hybrid cars are among those frequently targeted for their catalytic converters.

On Friday, a spokesperson for Surrey Police posted to Twitter saying that a older man and a teenager had been released after they were arrested in connection with the thefts.

"We arrested a 52 year old man and 15 year old boy from Hackney yesterday in Tadworth on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

"They have been released under investigation whilst we investigate further.

"We’re cracking down on catalytic converter theft across Surrey."

In a statement published to their website earlier this week, Surrey Police described the problem of catalytic converter thefts across Surrey:

"Surrey Police is urging motorists to remain alert and report any suspicious activity following a number of recent catalytic converter thefts from vehicles across the county.

"We are receiving increasing reports of thieves using car jacks to lift vehicles (particularly hybrids) to cut out catalytic converters found in the exhaust pipe," a spokesperson said.