County Lines: Police arrest 27 people in North Yorkshire

The arrests took place in Harrogate, Ripon, York, Selby, Whitby, Scarborough and Filey last week

Twenty-seven people have been arrested across North Yorkshire in a week-long crackdown on county lines drug dealing.

Police also seized two bladed weapons and more than £15,000 in cash during raids between 3 and 9 October, and made 60 welfare visits to vulnerable people.

The arrests took place in Harrogate, Ripon, York, Selby, Whitby, Scarborough and Filey.

Some of those held for drugs offences had been released pending further inquiries, North Yorkshire Police said.

County lines is the term used to describe drug-dealing networks connecting urban and rural areas, using phone lines, across the UK.

Those running the networks, usually gangs or groups, often exploit children or vulnerable people to deal drugs.

Cash, drugs and mobile phones were seized in the raids

Cuckooing describes when the home of a vulnerable person is taken over by criminals and is used it to sell and store drugs

The force said the week-long operation, which was coordinated by the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), had seen several teams involved in the execution of a number of warrants as well as deployed "out on the streets proactively stopping people and vehicles that are linked to the supply of drugs".

Det Ch Insp Andrew Simpson said: "Although this is a fantastic set of results from the last seven days, it's important to stress that this is very much business as usual for North Yorkshire Police.

"Our teams are out and about conducting warrants and intercepting the supply of drugs week in week out.

"Drug use has serious implications on people's health and impacts on the quality of life for communities.

"We will not tolerate the use of drugs in our county."

The force said it was working with other agencies to safeguard vulnerable people who are caught up in drug dealing, and to provide information on what to look out for and how to spot the signs of cuckooing.