POLICE swooped on a host of suspected drugs dealers in a series of dramatic dawn raids forming the biggest drugs bust South Fylde has ever seen.

More than 150 officers were involved in the operation on Wednesday targeting 14 suspects at 12 addresses in St Annes, Kilnhouse, Ansdell and Fairhaven.

Officers arrested 11 people -- ten of whom were targets plus an extra person for possession of Class A drugs.

It began at around 6.45am, when an imposing convoy of more than 15 armoured police vans and cars -- flanked by high visibility police motorcyles -- set off for St Annes from Blackpool Police Station.

The sheer size of the operation meant that police support units had to be drafted in from other areas of Lancashire.

The raids followed around three months of undercover work and 'intelligence gathering' by police, and the cost of the operation has been put at 'tens of thousands of pounds' by senior officers involved.

It was partly funded by the Fylde Community Safety Partnership -- involving agencies such as Lancashire Police, Fylde Borough Council and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

An additional two of the original 'target list' were already in custody as the operation began, police said.

Yesterday's raids were part of the larger, nationwide Operation Nimrod -- an ongoing anti-drugs operation which has been running for 12 months.

At a raid at one Ansdell address -- attended by The Citizen ...two men and one woman were arrested after being awoken by officers. As one man was led to a waiting police van, he posed smiling to one camera.

Community beat managers and police community safety officers (PCSOs) were out on the streets of South Fylde following the raids, distributing leaflets about what had happened and reassuring residents who were expected by officers to be worried by what they had seen.

Those arrested were taken in for questioning, and police were expecting to bring charges as The Citizen went to press.

Blackpool's Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Williams described the operation as intelligence led and said the emphasis was on 'reacting to the community's concerns'.

"St Annes and Lytham are certainly not the highest crime areas within the Fylde at all. However there are some significant people who have been arrested this morning that we are pleased to have arrested."

He urged residents to contact police with concerns about drugs or dealing in their areas. "This operation couldn't have happened if the initial information had not reached us. And they residents can have the confidence that we act very confidentially."

Inspector Louise Leyland, another leading officer in the raids, added: "It's the first time we've had an operation of this size in the Fylde area.

She said help and treatment is available for suspected drug users and dealers, but she also warned them: "This isn't the last drugs warrants we'll see in Fylde."

Christine Miller, co-ordinator for Fylde Community Safety Partnership, said St Annes was not a 'drugs capital'. But she added: "We have sent out a clear message today to the public that we won't tolerate drugs in our areas."