THREE men from the region have been arrested as part of a nationwide operation to stop people buying and selling banned weapons over the Internet.

North Yorkshire Police's Firearms Support Unit carried out three raids as part of Operation Bembridge.

A man was arrested at a house in Thirsk after officers seized a replica handgun. He received a police caution.

A Richmond man was arrested and later cautioned for possessing and importing a prohibited weapon, and a man was arrested in Selby after a stun-gun was found. He is on bail while inquiries continue.

The operation began with the monitoring of Internet sites, including one based in France, said to be used to buy and sell banned weapons such as stun-guns - capable of delivering a 50,000-volt shock - and replica weapons that can easily be converted to fire live rounds.

The inquiries centred on four machine-guns, 13 rifles, 108 pistols and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition.

The force's head of tactical operations, Superintendent Martin Deacon, said: "Quite simply, we don't know why an individual might buy one of these banned replicas.

"He might be a cowboy fan who just wants to hang a replica Colt over his mantelpiece - or he might have converted the replica into a genuinely deadly weapon and be planning an armed robbery.

"So anyone who makes such a purchase stands a very real chance of having a group of armed police knocking on his door.

"It is bad for the individual and his family, bad for the neighbours' peace of mind, and a bad waste of a lot of police time. And the individual involved is putting himself into danger."

Meanwhile, police in London yesterday revealed a hoard of illegal arms seized as part of Operation Bembridge in London, that involved raids on 48 homes in the past four days.

A total of 37 people have been arrested for possessing illegal firearms and now face minimum five-year jail terms.