FOURTEEN arrests were made on Wednesday during Barnsley’s most successful Operation Duxford so far.

Focusing on domestic violence, neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour, Barnsley’s first Operation Duxford of the year, turned out to be the most successful day of action the district has seen.

Teams from across the force came together to support Barnsley colleagues as well as local partners, with a total of 14 suspects arrested by the end of the day for offences including possession with intent to supply, arson with intent, robbery, fail to stop, recall to prison, burglary, Most Serious Violence (MSV) and retail theft.

The day started with officers out executing several warrants for drugs and weapons at addresses within the town centre and New Lodge areas, where several quantities of Class A drugs were seized as well as weapons including an air rifle, a hunting knife and a machete.

Vehicle checks were also carried out across the district, and officers and colleagues from Barnsley Council monitored over 1,200 vehicles, stopping a total of 42 vehicles and issuing three fixed penalty notices for not wearing a seat belt.

Alongside the vehicle checks, a roads policing operation was also carried out around Darfield and Stairfoot. In total, 60 vehicles were checked for no insurance, with two Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) being issued and one person arrested on suspicion of robbery, dangerous driving, driving not in accordance with a licence and failure to stop following a pursuit within the Stairfoot area.

A safer partnership operation also took place in the Hoyland area, with the aim of identifying key areas of concern where anti-social behaviour may be occurring and burglaries.

As part of this operation, several proactive patrols were undertaken and community pop-up events were held, as well as in the town centre, to provide crime prevention advice to the public.

Neighbourhood officers also paid a visit to a local school, where they spoke to teachers and children about knife crime and presented the new ‘Knives Take Lives’ campaign on the dangers of carrying a knife.

Barnsley Superintendent Emma Wheatcroft said: “Wednesday saw our most successful Operation Duxford in Barnsley to date, and I am incredibly proud of the results we achieved.

“Once again, we received support from a wide range of teams within the force to help us carry out a full day’s worth of activity, from our local neighbourhood policing teams, Tactical Support Group and Mounted to name just a few, as well as our local partners including Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.

“Our days of action like these allow us to focus on specific issues we know are affecting the residents of Barnsley, so that we can take those involved in crime within our local communities off the streets and ensure that the town is a safer place to live and work.

“Operation Duxford also provides an opportunity for officers to engage with members of the community and find out what their concerns are. We are always happy to listen and provide advice and support where we can.

“I encourage you to continue to tell us about the issues that matter to you – our officers are there to help and together, we can make sure everyone in Barnsley is safe.”