A FORCE-WIDE crackdown on crime launched across County Durham and Darlington in the run-up to Christmas has been hailed as successful by police.

Durham Constabulary's head of CID, Det Supt Ian Scott, revealed that 271 men and women had been arrested under Operation Bull's-eye.

In Darlington 54 arrests were made, in Sedgefield 14 and 54 were made by the Operations Division. A further 20 people had been reported for alleged involvement in minor crimes.

Hundreds of beat officers, traffic police and detectives played key-roles in the operation. House burglars, drug dealers, thieves and thugs involved in town centre violence were their main target.

A string of initiatives, launched by each of the force's divisions, resulted in the recovery of almost £57,000 in property, mainly from the search of more than 160 premises