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Police and partners have seized weapons, made arrests, checked dozens of vehicles and seized over £10,000 of illegal goods in a blitz on street level crime in Kirklees.

The Huddersfield and Dewsbury Town Centre Teams joined forces with British Transport Police and partners for a two week operation tackling all aspects of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in both towns.

Operations conducted in the first two weeks of July saw officers mount a range of high visibility operations in both town centres including patrols tackling street drinking and related ASB.

A focus on road safety saw Dewsbury officers join with the DVLA, DVSA and taxi licencing to check 60 vehicles, 36 of which were taxis.

Arrests made and vehicles seized in street level crime crackdown in Kirklees

Fifteen per cent of these being reported for defects, a further 14 vehicles were issued vehicle defect rectification notices for illegal number plates, and one vehicle was seized for no insurance.

Work in Huddersfield Station with British Transport Police saw officers deploy a knife arch resulting in one man being arrested on suspicion of Class A drugs and possession of illegal weapons offences.

Meanwhile, joint work with West Yorkshire Trading Standards resulted in £10,000 worth of tobacco seized which included 15,000 cigarettes and 800g of hand rolling tobacco.

Sergeant Amanda Holroyd of the Kirklees Town Centre Partnership, said: “Officers have been highly active in Kirklees with partner agencies over the past two weeks conducting operations to address a full spectrum of street level crime, and the feedback we have had from residents has been very positive.“Street drinking and related ASB can and does cause real misery to residents and it has been pleasing to see street drinking in particular has notably reduced in both town centres compared to this point in 2022.”

A focus on road safety saw Dewsbury officers join with the DVLA, DVSA and taxi licencing to check 60 vehicles, 36 of which were taxis.

Coun Carole Pattison Cabinet Member for Safer Kirklees said: “Street crime is far from victimless, not only does it impact on the wellbeing of those who witness it, it also leads to a negative view of our wonderful town centres which impacts on the businesses that serve us. And illegal tobacco and unsafe taxis could put lives at risk.

"By working together with the public, we can make our town centres safer and more enjoyable places to travel to and spend time in."

Arrests made and vehicles seized in street level crime crackdown in Kirklees