MORE than 1,000 crimes have been cleared up and £161,988 worth of stolen property recovered in a three-month operation coordinated by police across North Yorkshire.

Operation Starling was launched last November and the objective was to target thieves driven to crime by drug habits at a time of year when they are most active.

There are more rich pickings to be had in the run-up to Christmas, both from homes and from cars, while more hours of darkness give thieves more time to operate.

However, the £80,000 initiative also ran into the new year, continuing through January - and, at its conclusion, just over 250 burglaries had been detected, along with three robberies, 81 cases of deception, 40 of handling stolen goods, and 308 cases of shoplifting.

On the roads, 52 car thefts and thefts from cars were also solved, as well as 225 separate drug offences.

Deputy Chief Constable, Peter Walker said yesterday: "I feel it has been money well spent. The results presented today are impressive, but this is not the end of the story.

"There are several on-going investigations, particularly related to drugs, and many more arrests are imminent.''

Detectives in Harrogate were the most successful in the fight against car crime, with 18 offences detected - eight more than in York.

However, at 21, York saw the most prosecutions for supplying drugs, compared with Scarborough's 13 and Harrogate's 11.

The figures also suggest both York and Harrogate appear to be targeted most by shoplifters.

A total of 128 offences were detected in York and 113 in Harrogate, compared with 20 in Skipton and 15 in Scarborough.

The figures suggest North Yorkshire's more rural areas are either the safest places to live - or the best places for criminals to hide.

Only nine of 1,040 offences detected by Operation Starling were in Ryedale, with Hambleton on 32, and Richmond on 42