UNDERCOVER council officials have made a breakthrough in the hunt for thieves who steal identities.

Scavengers have recently slashed their way through hundreds of bin bags in Middlesbrough, rooting through rubbish, looking for personal documents to be used to unlock and clean out people's bank accounts.

The bag-slashers can receive up to £20 a time for an unshredded bank account, which criminals can use to carry out scams using stolen data.

A man identified as being at the centre of one such scavenger gang has been stopped and challenged by a Middlesbrough Council enforcement official, it has emerged.

The breakthrough came just as a sophisticated surveillance operation was being prepared to catch one gang of scavengers in the act.

The man was informed of reports linking him to bag-slashing and that officials knew his name and his address.

He was also warned of the impending surveillance operation to be undertaken in the area and, in return, he gave information about the number of slashers at work in west Middlesbrough.

The quick-thinking enforcement officer who challenged the man handed him a number of his business cards to distribute to other gang members, it has also been revealed.

Information about the scale of the bag-slashing was first highlighted to Middlesbrough Council by bin crews, street sweepers and street wardens.

The thieves' favourite ground is the grid pattern of terraced streets criss-crossing central Middlesbrough, with their maze of back lanes, where scavengers can work hidden from view.

The gangs know all the various refuse collection days across the town and, with the bins of between 10,000 and 12,000 homes being emptied daily, have virtual free reign.

Dr Anthony Luke, who heads the council's enforcement team, said: "We've been looking for a breakthrough against this gang for a while and we now know the number of individuals concerned and where they're operating. Thanks to our contact with this individual, they know that we know what they're doing, where and when they are doing it - we're on to them.

"More than ever now, it is vital that residents report to us any incidents they witness, and of course that they shred all personal information".