CUMBRIA Police have been given permission to continue holding £10,000 in cash which officers seized from a motorist on the M6.

A financial investigator told Carlisle’s Rickergate court that officers in an unmarked police patrol vehicle seized found the money after stopping a speeding Vauxhall Insignia car that was driving south on Friday, December 9.

The car was stopped just past Junction 37 of the motorway.

The investigator told magistrates that after the Vauxhall stopped, the driver took the unusual decision to get out of his car and approach the police car before the officers were able to approach his car.

When he was asked for his driving licence, an officer accompanied him back to his car to find the man’s driving licence. “The officer asked for the man’s wallet to be handed over and whilst getting it, he noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from inside the car,” said the investigator.

When the Vauxhall was searched, the officers found a white linen bag under one of the seats and inside was approximately £10,000 in cash. The officers also found a cannabis grinder, with traces of the class B drug.

The driver and his passenger said they had smoked two joints during their journey.

The investigator then outlined the various reasons the driver and his passenger gave for their trip south from Glasgow. The driver and his passenger had initially said they were on their way to Essex to attend a wedding.

They then changed their story, and said they were on their way to Essex so that they could buy electric bikes.

As he concluded his application for the continued detention of the cash, under Proceeds of Crime legislation, the investigator confirmed that police had tracked the car’s movements after the cash was seized.

It had continued south as far as Stoke and, after remaining there for a short while, the driver drove straight back to Glasgow.

The investigator asked the court to approve an application to continue holding the cash for a further four months so that the origin of the money could be further investigated to confirm whether or not it is linked to crime.

Magistrates approved the application, saying that there were reasonable grounds for the police to continue their investigation of the money’s origins. The driver of the Vauxhall was aware of the hearing but failed to attend.