Three arrested as suspected 'chop shop' found in Sheffield

Three men have been arrested after a stolen car was tracked to a suspected chop shop in Sheffield.

At just after 7pm on Wednesday (7 May) we received a call reporting a yellow Land Rover, which had been reported stolen a few days earlier, had been sighted at an industrial estate near the Middlewood area of Sheffield.

We attended and found four men moving parts believed to have been stripped from the Land Rover. Three men aged 61, 30 and 37 were arrested at the scene on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.

A fourth man managed to evade arrest and remains outstanding.

Detective Sergeant Thomas Jordan, of the Neighbourhood Crime Team in Sheffield, said:

"So-called chop shops form part of much wider organised criminality and often involve cars being stolen on order to be stripped of their parts and sold on for cash.

"We know there is a direct link between this organised criminality and burglaries, and that is why we are appealing for information to help us shut down this harmful trade in Sheffield and across South Yorkshire.

"Young people are often exploited and promised cash if they provide stolen vehicles to units for them to dismantle and sell on, and we know this cross-border offending takes place across the county.

"Our message is clear. If you think something isn't right, report it to us or completely anonymously to Crimestoppers. Things to look out for could be someone asking you to do some work on a vehicle 'on the cheap', or an unusually high number of vehicles coming and going from a unit.

"We need your information to act as this helps us build up a picture of offending patterns and gives us the power to look into reports in more detail."

The three men who were arrested as part of the reported incident on Wednesday have been released on police bail as enquiries continue.

You can report information to us online here: Report | South Yorkshire Police, or by calling 101.

Anyone with information on Wednesday's reported incident is being asked to contact us and quote incident number 795 of 7 May 2025.

We understand some people don’t feel comfortable speaking directly to police so it is important to be aware information can be reported completely anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling them on 0800 555 111, or by completing a simple form at Crimestoppers-uk.org.