DRUGS and thousands of pounds worth of cash were seized from a flat suspected of being a drug dealing hotspot.

Officers raided the flat in Priory Road, Park South, at 10.40am yesterday and found class A drugs on the three people inside.

Armed officers, neighbourhood cops and sniffer dogs entered the flat to find a scene of chaos.

One man inside the address tried to resist arrest, but was restrained by Parks beat manager PC Billy O'Sullivan.

A Staffordshire bull terrier tried to attack officers and had to be removed by the police dog unit team. Another dog was found in a cage inside the property.

On the living room table was a large amount of cash and more drugs.

Scattered around the flat were bags of cannabis and drug-smoking paraphernalia.

Sgt Phil Stayning said: "Following intelligence we executed a drugs warrant at 37 Priory Road.

"Officers from the armed response team, dog section and drug team along with neighbourhood police officers attended.

"Three people were detained for possession of a quantity of what appeared to be a class A substance.

"The drugs were found on the people and within the address. Around the flat there was quite a lot of evidence of drug use.

"There was cannabis on the table, cannabis in the kitchen and you can see where they had been cutting and wrapping the drugs.

"We have seized a quantity of class A drugs, cash and there were also quite a few mobile phones - more mobiles than three people would need.

"This has been a fantastic day for us in reducing the amount available to local people using class A drugs, drugs which we know are associated with a lot of crime.

"If we receive intelligence, particularly in the Parks and Walcot, that people are dealing we will come to your door and we have a variety of methods to help us do that."

Officers spent most of the day carrying out a detailed search of the address, and found more cash stashed underneath drawers, drugs inside the pockets of clothing and high value goods, including designer clothes, perfume and flatscreen TVs, which could have been bought using the proceeds of crime.

At the front door of the flat, three tiny CCTV cameras had been rigged up to monitor visitors.

Following initial searches and a thorough going-over by police sniffer dog Murphy, Scenes of Crime officers photographed everything at the property, to be used in evidence later.

East inspector Mark Sellers issued a warning to dealers, saying: "This operation is not a one-off, we do this all the time. If you are doing this sort of thing then you are going to get caught."

l Two men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.