Discovering a nose for crime

Mr Johnson saw Lenny, a three-year-old springer spaniel, and handler Mark Thompson, during a visit to Humberside Police's roads crime team yesterday.

He saw Lenny's skills in sniffing out stashes of drugs and cash hidden in vehicles during a guided tour of the unit's command centre at Hessle Road police station in Hull.

Since its formation in 2005, the team has made 2,175 arrests and seized drugs, vehicles, properties and cash worth more than 6m. Officers have seized 228 weapons from vehicles and solved more than 1,100 crimes, resulting in offenders being jailed for a total of 440 years.

Humberside Police head of operations Chief Superintendent Colin Andrews said the team concentrates on travelling criminals who come into the region to commit offences, working with the intelligence network and the police helicopter.