DETECTIVES have been given more time to question the four people who remain in custody following the Operation Cameo raids.

Magistrates granted an extension giving police a maximum of a further 36 hours to interview the suspects, which includes an Ashford police officer.

A group of nine, which includes another Ashford PC who has been suspended from duty, have been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

All thirteen were arrested on Tuesday as part of a highly-secretive police operation to catch a gang thought to be responsible for car thefts and ringing, which saw 375 officers swoop on 12 target addresses in Ashford, Woodchurch, Tenterden, Paddock Wood and Peasmarsh, East Sussex.

Searches of homes, scrapyards and other properties continued today as officers attempted to collect further evidence.

Operation Cameo has been running covertly for more than a year at a cost of more than £500,000, investigating a series of high-value burglaries and vehicle thefts in South and West Kent, totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Officers are attempting to track down at least 60 lorries, cars and commercial vehicles and the vehicle inspectorate was drafted in on Tuesday to examine what was seized.