MASKED police armed with a chainsaw and battering rams smashed their way through two doors in the same house during a dramatic dawn raid.
The rumble of a chainsaw and the sound of a splintering door broke the silence in Canterbury Road in Ronkswood, Worcester this morning (Tuesday).
Officers hacked and bashed their way through one heavy-duty door and, at the same time at the same property, they also hammered their way through a second in search of drugs after securing a search warrant from the courts.
Acting on intelligence from the community, the warrant was carried out as part of Operation Forefront, a series of targeted strikes to tackle crime across Worcestershire.
Officers from West Mercia Police's Task Force wearing helmets and equipped with body armour made the entry using a chainsaw followed by an enforcer, also known as 'the big red key' as shouts of 'police' and 'stay where you are' rang out in the residential street at around 7.50am.
Meanwhile, a second door was being knocked through in the same property before officers streamed inside.
The joint warrant at the end-of-terrace home also involved Safer Neighbourhood Team officers.
A search was conducted by police and a drugs sniffer dog called Loki after a convoy of police vans pulled up outside.
Although no drugs were found, two motorbikes believed to be linked to antisocial behaviour were seized and taken away by a recovery truck.
The occupiers of the property returned as the search was carried out with one of the men detained.
Chief inspector Brian Gibbs said of Operation Forefront ahead of the warrant: "It's about making our community safe. For you in the Safer Neighbourhood Team, this is the core of what you do. It is right to act on this intelligence."
Police and crime commissioner John Campion was on the warrant and an earlier one and said they were important 'in public confidence terms' and showed the joint work between specialist teams and neighbourhood officers.
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Two motorbikes were seized which are suspected to have been used in antisocial behaviour on land near Nunnery Wood High School, land also used by dog walkers and families.
Sgt Brian Simpkins, part of the Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "We are making enquiries to see if we can now identify the riders who will be dealt with accordingly. Those bikes will now be taken away. It's two more off-road motorbikes gone.
"We have a number of scrambler bikes using that land for antisocial behaviour. It can be a danger for walkers and dog walkers. People bring their families up there and they're blighted by machines like this flying around."
The bikes will be returned if they are found to have no link to any criminal or antisocial behaviour.
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