Eighteen more people have been charged with an alleged car insurance ‘crash for cash’ scam, it has been revealed.

Two groups of fraudsters have been arrested and charged as part of the Operation Contact crackdown after committing several “deliberate” car accidents to scam from their insurance companies.

A group of 5 men have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and are to appear at Stockport Magistrates Court later this week.

Another group of 13 are expected to appear at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court later this month.

Operation Contact is the power of both insurance firms and the police force working together to crackdown on insurance fraudsters across Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire.

Earlier this month, a three year insurance fraud investigation led to 33 people facing court after the group were found staging “accidents” to scam their way into claiming from the same insurance company.

One man admitted to the conspiracy to commit fraud as well as 16 other charges.

Alyson Wilson, a Detective Inspector of Merseyside Police’s Force Operations Unit said: "This is an unscrupulous crime that affects the premiums paid by the public and impacts on the whole of the motor insurance industry. Merseyside Police is carrying out a thorough investigation into the allegations."