Thousands of pounds of cigarettes confiscated in Crawley in police patrols

Officers in Crawley made use of the engagement pod and Stronger, Safer, Crawley as they hosted a partnership day alongside Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs, SEROCU and Crawley Borough Council.

This covered a day of searching for counterfeit and illegal tobacco and vape products from several stores in the town centre.

Thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes and vapes were confiscated.

This included goods which were suspected of being fraudulent, illegally imported and addressed health and safety issues,

The week of action is an additional focus on top of the work which is carried out every day of the week across the force.

Superintendent Nick Dias said: “The Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action has been a real success. With partners, we have engaged with thousands of people and our officers have gone above and beyond to protect their communities.

“Not only in West Sussex, but across the entire force, Neighbourhood Policing Teams have come together to ensure they made a difference.”

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said: “The Neighbourhood Policing Week of Action shines a light on the vast range of visible operational activity undertaken by Sussex Police, 24 hours a day throughout the year.

"The successful results delivered by the neighbourhood policing teams show just how committed Sussex Police is to tackling the local crimes that matter to residents, like antisocial behaviour and shoplifting, and delivering results to make our streets visibly safer and instil greater public confidence.”

Councillor Yasmin Khan, Cabinet member for Public Protection, said: “This joint operation has taken dangerous and fraudulent goods off the streets and is another great result for the Safer Stronger Crawley initiative. My thanks go to all of the officers involved from all of the partners who worked on this operation.”