NEW legislation aimed at hitting criminals in the pocket has been welcomed by police and prosecutors in Lancashire.
The Crown Prosecution Service for the county and Lancashire Constabulary have signed a service level agreement, which charts their approach to the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The Act has been hailed as the next step in making criminals pay for their misdeeds.
The head of the CPS in Lancashire, Dickie Dickenson, said the Act aimed to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten gains.
"They should be aware that together with the police we will attack criminality where it hurts most, the pocket," said Mr Dickenson.
"The Crown Court will become a one-stop shop for the restraint and confiscation of criminal assets. Police are to be given tough new powers to search for and seize substantial sums of criminal cash which may be in an individuals possession or in his home."
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