DETECTIVES have arrested a half-dozen people and seized a quantity of heroin following a series of raids at local households.

And Bury South MP Ivan Lewis has welcomed the operation to rid Radcliffe of what he labels "the evil drug pushers".

Three men and three women were detained by officers after they swooped on three homes in the town during Friday and Saturday (May 26-27).

These houses were targeted after what police disclosed were months of intelligence gathering and surveillance by officers attached to Bury police's divisional drugs unit.

An amount of heroin, a category "A" drug, was seized by officers during the initiative, codenamed "Operation Pyramid".

The officer in charge of the operation, Detective Constable Steve Horton said: "These arrests illustrate our commitment to stamping out this kind of activity on the streets of Radcliffe.

"I would like to re-assure the law-abiding citizens of this community that we will not stand by and allow drug dealing on our streets."

Welcoming the crackdown, Ivan Lewis commented: "This is an excellent example of a successful operation which will help make Radcliffe safer.

"It is an important victory in our war against the evil drug pushers who do so much damage to our community."