Members of the Biddle and Stretton families, of Justin Park, Harborough, had enjoyed a life of luxury using the profits of crime.

They drove sports cars and shopped for designer jewellery, handbags and clothes at high priced stores such as Harrods and Selfridges.

But on Monday, having been convicted last year of money laundering and a series of charges relating to their part in a plot to dishonestly sell 'clocked' or stolen vehicles, prosecutors used the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to confiscate as much of their ill-gotten gains as possible.

In the morning, at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Michael Stokes ruled that a total of £1,923,285 should be confiscated from five members of the Stretton family.

In the afternoon, at Derby Crown Court, Judge William Everard ordered six of the Biddle family to hand over a total of £660,000, including £52,500 compensation to their victims.

Added to earlier hearings for family members or associates, the confiscation orders add up to £2.8million – the largest such confiscation to take place in Leicestershire.

The majority of this was seized following police raids on April 1, 2005, on several properties in Justin Park and at another traveller site at Braybrooke Cottage.

During those raids officers recovered £991,000 in cash buried in the ground in the largest operation in Leicestershire police history.

Other items seized during Operation Lucky, as the raids were named by police, were 37 luxury vehicles including a Porsche, several Mercedes and BMWs, tarmacing equipment, more than 1,500 luxury items including collectables, antiques and designer clothing, £200,000 worth of Royal Worcester crockery and £500,000 worth of jewellery.

As a result of Monday's hearings, the state can now confiscate cash and sell the cars and luxury goods seized from the families to realise their worth.

The proceeds will be paid to the Treasury which will then return a percentage to police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Compensation totalling £52,500 will also be handed out to the 13 people who were the victims of car and caravan theft or who bought clocked vehicles.

The investigation was led by Det Supt Chris Tew (pictured left), who said he 'lived and breathed' Operation Lucky for two years.

Speaking after the hearing, he said: "The operation uncovered organised criminality on a large scale and the profits were clearly huge. For years the individuals involved were living a lifestyle most people could only ever dream of yet none of them had a legitimate job.

"We have ensured these people have been brought to justice. In addition to their sentences, many of which are custodial, they have been stripped of sizeable sums of their dishonestly accumulated wealth. We are delighted that some of the money confiscated will go directly to compensate the victims in this case and I know how much it will mean to some of them to receive a cheque to reimburse them for the thousands they lost."

Follow these links to read other reports related to this case:
Watch videos of the police raids on the traveller camps.
See how much each traveller is having confiscated.
Traveller case investigators praised.
On the trail of traveller families' wealth.