Ten people have been arrested in South Shields after reports that a number of people had been "held against their will and assaulted". 

An incident last month allegedly saw multiple people kidnapped. 

Now, eight men and two women, aged between 24 and 37, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of false imprisonment, blackmail and assault.

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Northumbria Police said: "Operation Sentinel activity has seen ten arrested in a series of targeted strikes, as part of an investigation into an alleged kidnapping.

"On Monday we carried out a string of dawn raids at multiple addresses across South Shields following reports a number of people had had been held against their will and seriously assaulted at an address in South Tyneside last month.

"A total of eight men and two women, aged between 24 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, blackmail and assault.

"Of those 10, six men and one woman have since been charged with a slew of offences and are due to appear at South Tyneside Magistrates Court today. One man, aged 30, remains in police custody at this time, while another man, aged 29, and a 25-year-old woman have been released on bail.

"We will remain in the area over the coming days to continue our enquiries so please speak to us if you have any concerns.

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"Our investigation remains ongoing and is still at an early stage but we do believe there is no risk to the wider public at this time.

"Violence and criminality of this nature will not be tolerated and as part of Operation Sentinel, our dedicated activity to tackle serious and organised crime, we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice.

"If you have information that may assist the investigation, please call 101 or visit the ‘Tell us Something’ page on our website quoting log NP-20230921-0543. 📲Alternatively, you can contact independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111."