Little attempt had been made to hide the stolen cars, and number plates and Vehicle Identification Numbers largely remained on the cars.

The owner of the property will be interviewed on Tuesday. He has co-operated with the investigation.

It has taken police several days to sort through the cars, transport them from the property, and find their owners.

Many of the cars had little value other than for scrap, given they had been kept outside, but some were worth more than $20,000. One had been reported stolen earlier this year, and two others were stolen last year, but the majority were stolen in 2015 or earlier.

Sergeant Kear said that police had contacted every owner, and told many of them that while their car had been recovered, it would probably have to be sold for scrap, given its condition.