IT was a united show of commitment where the handling was almost as important as the haul.

Yes, the five police forces involved in searching traveller sites across the north of England this morning were interested in what they could find; be it firearms, vehicles or, ultimately, the missing skulls of teenage brothers Levi George and Gareth Price, stolen from a cemetery in Metal Bridge, County Durham, last weekend.

Yes, the officers on the ground were after information, “intelligence”, on the long-running and now infamous traveller feud between Gipsy families based in County Durham and South Yorkshire.

And, yes, police were certainly keen to show they are taking the ongoing dispute - and its impact on law-abiding communities, both Gipsy and settled - seriously and taking firm and rapid action to stop the lawlessness.

But in Operation Zephyr, how the police go about their work is almost as significant as what they learn.

These were not the dawn raids we have become used to seeing, against say local drug dealers, with armed officers in riot gear smashing in doors and yelling “police” at the top of their lungs.

The police teams arrived at the traveller sites quietly and politely, almost knocking at the gates and asking to be allowed in.

“We have strong relationships with the travelling communities,” said Darlington-based Chief Inspector Caroline Dawson.

“It’s difficult to get intelligence from these communities. People are worried about the ramifications and what might happen. But it’s about building trust.

“The people I deal with are absolutely shocked at what’s happened. They can’t believe something like this would happen within their own community. It has really stirred up emotions.”

So softly, softly was the order of the day.

At Oakwell Park Gipsy site, on Baltic Road, Gateshead, the atmosphere was overwhelmingly calm.

Hidden deep in an industrial estate but just downriver from the bright lights of the Gateshead Quayside, this is a well-established Gipsy site with proper roads, electricity, outbuildings, a central office-type facility and a fenced-off green for horses.

Police spoke to Gipsy families, seized one saloon car believed to be linked to the investigation and used specially trained dogs to search buildings.

“The residents were very co-operative,” Inspector Mick Robson said. “We’re here to provide reassurance to these residents. We’re happy with the progress we’re making.”

At West Rainton, near Durham, around a dozen officers searched undergrowth for clues.

It is thought the feud may have been building for months or even years. But it was only when a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of a house in The Mead, Darlington, by men armed with baseball bats on October 12 that the row became public.

A second incident came a month later to the day when a stolen horse box was crashed into a house on the outskirts of Darlington.

Last week a stolen truck was then rammed into a house in Lynton Gardens, Darlington.