NEARLY £85,000 worth of cash and drugs have been seized in a series of raids by police.

Ten people were arrested on suspicion of a number of offences, including drug dealing and money laundering, following the operation on Saturday.

A total of eight houses in the Darlington area were searched by police.

The operation was triggered after police began investigating a serious assault.

Police have said the discovery of the cash sends out a warning to anyone who is considering dealing drugs in Darlington.

About 20 officers were involved in the executiion of the search warrants.

Two of the houses were in the village of Hurworth, three miles from Darlington, with the rest of the properties in the town itself.

Nearly £80,000 worth of cash was seized by the officers and cannabis with an approximate street value of £5,000 was also found.

The ten people arrested were a mixture of both men and women, ranging from youths to someone in their mid-fifties.

They were arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs with intent to supply, money laundering, violent disorder and public order offences.

Detective Constable Dave Ripley said: "It's quite a haul and obviously we're pleased that these drugs have been taken off the streets.

"I hope this sends a message to anybody who is dealing drugs, supplying drugs or profiting from the sale of drugs, that it will not be tolerated in Darlington.

"This was an intelligence-led operation and involved a mixture of drugs officers and other officers.

"We were there to investigate a serious assault and this led to the issue of drugs coming into it."

Councillor Peter Foster, chairman of Hurworth Parish Council, said last night: "I'm very, very concerned by this indeed.

"I've been on the parish council for 38 years and to my knowledge we've never had anything like this happen before in the village.

"We have some problems with teenagers in the village and you hear rumours about them taking drugs, but this is more than just a teenager down a back street.

"But it would seem it is available in the village and this could be where it has been coming from."

The ten people have since been released on police bail, to be answered at a later date, while police carry out further investigations and analysis of the drugs