POLICE in East Lancashire are hoping that violent street robberies will be reduced after an illegal mobile telephone network was smashed.
They said criminals who steal mobile telephones and convert them illegally will be less likely to take handsets after a raid uncovered machines used to convert stolen phones.
Detective Sergeant Derek Jones said laws introduced last October made it illegal to possess equipment that can change stolen mobile telephones, or to advertise the equipment or sell it.
DS Jones said: "This legislation removes the value of the mobile telephones to the people who rob them. Just one of these machines can make hundreds of telephones re-usable."
A 26-year-old Padiham man will appear before magistrates in Burnley on Friday, charged in connection with the raid on an unnamed Burnley business.
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