Wirral raids target suspected senior crime gang members

Raids took place in the Beechwood, Woodchurch and Noctorum estates in Birkenhead earlier

Three people have been arrested and thousands of pounds seized in raids targeting senior members of organised crime gangs, police have said.

The raids on five homes on the Beechwood, Woodchurch and Noctorum estates in Birkenhead were part of the Home Office project targeting gangs.

The scheme is being rolled out in Wirral following the death of Elle Edwards, 26, who was shot in a pub.

Local workers and residents have said people living there "don't feel safe".

Merseyside Police said since Ms Edwards's death, officers had made nearly 400 arrests associated with gang crime.

'Root out'

Similar projects were set up in Liverpool and Knowsley in August after the fatal shootings of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Sam Rimmer, 22, and 28-year-old Ashley Dale - and it was also launched in Netherton in April on the Park Lane estate.

Assistant Chief Constable Jon Roy told BBC Radio Merseyside the project sought to tackle areas "marred" by serious organised crime and rebuild them.

He said police had worked to "root out and prosecute" those involved in gangs and those supporting them, and wanted to take communities on a "journey of regeneration" and "build long-term resilience against organised crime groups".

Elle Edwards was on a Christmas Eve night out in Wallasey with her sister and friends when she was fatally shot

He added that the force was making a commitment to communities that had been "blighted" for too long by gun and knife crime to "clear this out [and] stop it coming back".

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said the project was about building "longer-lasting change" and involved impressing on young people the dangers of getting involved in criminality.

People living and working on the estates said more was needed to be done to stop the gangs who operate in the area and make people feel safe.

One youth worker said a couple of weeks ago, her children "came running in and said someone was pointing a gun at them", while a family and community support worker said people were buying their own video doorbells and security facilities, adding: "No-one feels protected."

ACC Roy said he understood why communities felt afraid and frustrated "but we are committed in Merseyside Police to [a] neighbourhood policing approach that has never wavered".

"Our approach to working with communities on a local basis is as strong as it's ever been," he added.

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