OPERATION Firestorm saw an early morning raid today (September 24) with police breaking down the door of a targeted address.

Police said the house, in Greenfields, Loughton, was home to a “prolific offender” known to them for previous offences and that intelligence had placed class A and B drugs as being possible on the premises.

Despite a thorough search, no illegal substances were found on the day, but Sgt James Shelton, who headed the operation, said it had pressed home the idea of a zero tolerance approach to crime in the area.

He said: “It's always nice to find something but today really we want to send out a message.

“We're taking a zero tolerance approach to the priority offenders on our patch and we have to send out the message that if they're going to continue engaging in criminal activity on our patch then they'll have to expect a visit from us.

“We've made an impact and it's going to send a message to him and the people that are committing most of our offences in our area. We're going to take a zero tolerance approach and we'll be waking them up in the morning knocking on their door the way we did today.”

Operation Firestorm is designed to target a police priority list of offenders singled out through intelligence and previous criminal records.

Mr Shelton said: “It's the few people committing the majority of offences. By targeting these few people we can really reduce our crime and the threat level in that area.

“This is going to be an ongoing operation, and we'll be doing more warrants and other tactics to look at these people.”