A MOTORIST who transporting £62,000 of 'suspect cash' along the M6 near Carlisle was caught after police saw him speed past them at 93mph.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate court, a Cumbria Police financial investigator said the man was stopped by the police on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 17, after he overtook the officers’ unmarked police vehicle near Junction 41.

He was driving an Audi Q7 southwards.

As the officers followed the car, they noted that its speed varied between 87mph and 93 mph and this prompted them to stop the car.

“The driver was asked to sit in the officers’ vehicle, where he identified himself,” said the investigator. The man said he had left Birmingham at 8am that day and, after dropping off his relative in Scotland, had returned for the journey south.

The driver was not able to provide the details of his relative or the address where he had dropped him off in Aberdeen. “He appeared nervous and was evasive when answering the officers’ questions,” said the police investigator.

Because of the man’s behaviour, the officers decided to search the man’s car. In the boot, they found a holdall that was locked with a small padlock.

When he was asked for the key, the driver said the bag had nothing to do with him and he did not have a key. “No key was found in the vehicle or on his person for the holdall,” said the investigator.

The officers then forced open the bag and inside found a large quantity of cash – estimated to be £62,000. Also recovered during the search was a baton, found tucked under the front passenger seat.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

After this was concluded, he signed a disclaimer saying that he relinquished all claim to the money police had seized. That background, said the investigator, led police to believe that the cash should be retained under Proceeds of Crime legislation.

The investigator said the enquiries would involve efforts to trace the source of the money and forensically examine the cash.

Magistrates granted Cumbria Police permission to continue holding the cash for three months while those various enquiries are undertaken. The Audi driver – a man in his 30s – did not come to the court for the hearing.