IN stab vests and riot gear, police stormed a number of Ulverston homes looking for drugs yesterday (Thursday) in a series of high-profile raids.

Dubbed Operation Seaside, teams of officers with battering rams and police dogs targeted ten properties.

As The Westmorland Gazette went to press, 50 tablets, powder and plants were seized. They will be sent for forensic testing for ecstasy, speed and cannabis.

The crackdown followed two months' of surveillance and intelligence gathering after an influx of ecstasy tablets, cocaine and amphetamines into Ulverston.

Operation leader Detective Sergeant Barry Fitzgerald said the ample supply was such that, in a reversal of the usual situation, people were coming from Barrow to buy drugs.

In an 8am briefing, DS Fitzgerald told his team that the raids were aimed at seizing drugs, arresting dealers and reassuring the public.

"The whole idea is not only to recover drugs and disrupt what's been going on, but to reassure people who live in Ulverston that this kind of thing is not going to be tolerated."

By 9am, the raids kicked off with 30 officers swooping on properties in Rydal Road, Garden Lea, Union Street, Upper Brook Street, Soutergate, Larch Grove, Ullswater Grove and Lund Terrace.

As they got on with searching homes, teams of community police officers went knocking on neighbours' doors to advertise the police action, explain the drama in their streets and to see if they had any evidence to offer.

PC Simone Cookson said residents had welcomed the police offensive.

"They were glad to see something happening. Some members of the public said it was about time and that they weren't surprised."

Those living near the raided homes were pleased with the crackdown. One resident who asked not to be named for fear of intimidation said: "There was a lot of noise coming from there with a lot of cars coming backwards and forwards."

DS Fitzgerald said that while it was highly-addictive drugs like heroin and crack cocaine that were the worst menace for causing crime, ecstasy and cocaine also caused social problems which police needed to target.

Extreme violence often resulted from settling drug debts and those living near dealers' homes had to put up with anti-social behaviour, he said.

"We've had some excellent responses from the public to these raids and we caught those who are involved in dealing on the back foot. People are well aware we are not just going to ignore places like Ulverston."