Big police crackdown on burglary

Up to 40 extra officers a day have been drafted in under Operation Salvo.

Some 70 officers in all have been involved in the district-wide crackdown.

Up until yesterday 26 arrests had been made and nearly 15,000 worth of stolen property recovered.

Items include silver, antiques, electrical equipment, CDs, DVDs and cannabis.

At least 16 burglaries have been detected. Arrests have also been made for theft from vehicles, drug offences and breaches of bail.

Bexhill police station is the hub for the crack-down initiated by Rother district's new commander, Chief Inspector Rob Carden.

He said: "We have been making life an absolute misery for career criminals - and we are NOT letting up. Our objective is to run them out of town."

Chief Inspector Carden said the police presence had been so massive that it had alarmed criminals.

"That's just what we want it to do..."