Over the past few months, Operation Drystone dedicated patrol team has been deployed to operations spanning the whole of North Yorkshire, tackling everything from anti-social behaviour to drug-dealing.

Sgt David Burnley from Operation Drystone, said: “Ensuring our communities remain safe is a top priority for the force and Operation Drystone has been able to boost the capacity of local police teams, enabling us to target specific problems within their neighbourhoods.

“We have supported operations in just about every part of the county, targeting anti-social behaviour, car crime, burglary and more recently, we took part in National Tackling Drugs Week to raise awareness of the work being done in communities to tackle problems with drugs.

“The team is a great asset to the force and can be deployed anywhere in the county to support local officers.

“We’ve also received a lot of positive feedback from the community who are pleased that their concerns have been listened to and that something has been done about them.”

Operation Drystone was launched in October 2008 by Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell with the intention of providing extra resources to support Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the county, trageting quality of life crimes which affect local communities.

It has so far seen 156 arrests and has seized more than £180,000 worth of suspected stolen property and cash.

In the Whitby and district area high-visibilty patrols have been on the look out for incidents in the town and villages.