NEIGHBOURHOOD police raided homes across the west of the town in an operation to curb drug activity.

Officers targeted seven addresses from Penhill to Shaw as a result of tip-offs from the community, and drug paraphernalia was discovered in six of the houses.

Warrants were executed in Upavon Court in Penhill, Kerry Close in Shaw, Baydon Close and Moredon Park, in Moredon, Walter Close in the Prinnels and two houses in Beaulieu, Toothill.

A 21-year-old man was given an £80 fine for possession of cannabis, while another man, aged 29, was summonsed to court for possession of the class B drug.

The latest raids followed a day of action last month when Chief Constable Patrick Geenty took to the streets to see first-hand the fight against illegal drugs.

PC Tom Turner, the beat manager for West Swindon north, said the raids followed weeks of intelligence gathering from members of the public.

He said: “We had six positive results from the warrants, in that we found evidence of drug use at those places.

“Even though we only found paraphernalia at the houses and did not seize large amounts of drugs we are confident we targeted the right addresses linked with the intelligence picture.

“We will be informing housing authorities and landlords and if any are in breach of tenancy agreements then there is the possibility of eviction.

“And it also sent out a message that we will act on the intelligence the community pass on to us – cracking down on drug issues in the area is one of our priorities.

“We have seen more people coming forward since we did those publicised raids last month and I think every time we do these we get more feedback and more people come forward.

“This will drive down drug dealing and so I would urge anyone who is suspicious of drug activity in the area to contact us.”

Anyone with any information about drug dealing in the area should contact the West Swindon Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101 or Crimestoppers, where information can be left anonymously, on 0800 555 111.