I HAVE read with interest recent letters to your paper in relation to the police raid at the Warehouse.

Whilst in general I consider that the correspondence has generated rather more heat than light, it is right and proper that policing activity is the subject of public debate.

I prefer to await the outcome of court proceedings where all of the facts will be tested before further comment.

However, I do wish to respond to recent correspondents who have suggested that the Warehouse operation has been pursued with greater vigour than a rape enqiry.

As with much of the speculation around these issues this opinion is ill-informed and not supported by the facts.

The idea that the police undertake only one enquiry at a time is naive. At any one time this police division will be involved in several major investigations.

The ongoing investigation into the rape in Lancaster has and will remain a top priority for the police until the offender is caught.

In excess of 70 officers, drafted in from right throughout Lancashire, have been involved in the investigation and the investigation team is headed by experienced senior detectives from police headquarters.

In an effort to trace the offender 3,300 homes in the city have been visited, and almost 500 DNA samples have been obtained in one of the largest DNA screening programmes in the North West of England. I am confident that this will lead to the offender being caught.

However, I recognise that until the offender is caught local people will be concerned.

This legitimate concern should, in my view, not be heightened by unhelpful, inaccurate and sometimes mischievous claims of police inaction.

Supt Jerry Graham

Operations Manager

Northern Division