TWO men have been arrested after police discovered a suspected car "chop shop" at an industrial unit in Bradford.

Officers discovered broken down parts of high value Audi and Mercedes vehicles after raiding a ramshackle industrial unit in West Bowling following a tip off.

Two of the vehicles had been stolen in Essex and a third in Leeds and detectives believe the Bradford premises could be part of a wider operation.

Detective Inspector Andy Howard, of Bradford District CID, said police were alerted by a member of the public and officers attended the premises, in Raymond Street, on Wednesday afternoon.

Det Insp Howard said: "The member of the public had seen vehicles coming and going from the location, which they thought looked suspicious, and contacted us.

"Officers attended and identified three stolen broken up vehicles."

He said a Mercedes Sprinter van and an 03 plated Mercedes ML270 4x4 had been stolen in Essex, while a sporty Audi A5 convertible had been stolen from the Leeds area.

Det Insp Howard said all that was left of the Sprinter van was a chassis. Other vehicle parts recovered included vehicle doors, speedometers and radios.

He added: "The vehicles have clearly been broken up into very small parts, which suggests this was quite a sophisticated operation.

"Investigations are at a very early stage and there is a lot of work still to be done to identify all the vehicle parts. But there is potential for this to be a more sophisticated operation, with vehicles being removed from various parts of the country.

"I am confident we are going to identify more vehicles. Those we have so far identified are high range vehicles."

"Chop shop" premises are used by criminals to break up stolen vehicles to sell on the parts.

In January, a 38-year-old Bradford man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft of motor vehicles. He was among eight people held by police after a "vast" amount of stolen vehicle parts were discovered at two chop shops in Lancashire.

Det Insp Howard said: "Officers are working to identify the scale of this chop shop in West Bowling. They will be seeking to identify what other vehicles have been taken there, where the parts are going, and who is involved."

He said two Bradford men, aged 32 and 23, had been arrested at the scene, on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They have been interviewed and released on bail to a later date, pending further inquiries.

The property was today secured by padlocked gates. behind it lay a rubbish-strewn concrete yard, giving entry to a dilapidated windowless redbrick building.  A businessman working nearby said he had seen police arrest two men from the premises.

He said: "I hadn't seen them before. It is a rented property but we didn't know there were new tenants in until yesterday. A recovery vehicle took away the chassis of a vehicle. I don't know what type of vehicle it was, it was just a shell. There were no doors, lights, wings or bonnet."