CRIMINALS blitzed by a new get-tough police operation have been warned: We've only just begun.

The message was delivered by the head of Lancashire's new Eastern Police Division, after it was revealed crime had been cut dramatically since its launch on April 1.

A new policy of targeting known criminals has resulted in a 60 per cent fall in burglaries and a 16 per cent drop in overall crime in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, compared to the same period last year.

And Supt Eddie Walsh said: "We are extremely pleased with the results we have achieved, based on the work we have been doing over the last few months to build up to this.

"Hopefully the results will improve further when we have our intelligence unit and other teams fully in place. "At the moment we only have a snapshot and we need to look at a longer term set of figures to see what the real improvement is.

"But the message to the criminals is: we have only just begun."

Mr Walsh revealed that the number of suspects passing through police cells in the division had increased during the initiative.

And he added: "It is the right sort of people coming through, that is what matters. It is not necessarily the number of people that counts, it is what they have been doing.

"We are getting feedback from the community that local criminals are getting very concerned at our successes and our ability to obtain intelligence on their activities."

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