Touts trying to pass off forged or stolen tickets at the gates of Silverstone have been targeted by Northamptonshire police as one of the biggest crime threats of the upcoming race weekend.
The force has written to known offenders, telling them to stay away, and is viewing the illegal activity as potentially a greater problem than crowd trouble at this traditionally peaceable race.
Supt John Jones of Northamptonshire Police told the BBC: “Fraudulent ticket sales are an issue which Silverstone is taking very seriously. The people who tout tickets tend to be involved in all sorts of other criminal activity.
“We will be carrying out an operation against ticket touts which we hope will head these people off at the start.
“We have written to known touts who have caused us problems in the past, warning them not to ply their trade at Silverstone.”
The problem is likely to be exacerbated this year as race day is a sell-out.