POLICE today said the arrest of 40 suspected drug dealers over the past six weeks had made Blackburn, Darwen and Hyndburn safer places to live.

And a senior officer also hailed the success of a groundbreaking scheme which seeks to conquer the drug habits of prolific criminals.

The crackdown over the past six weeks has seen a series of high-profile drugs raids aimed on suppliers of class A drugs.

Drugs worth more than £100,000 have been seized and 40 suspected dealers arrested, with many of those now charged and awaiting criminal trials.

Police said the raids followed the success of Operation Nimrod, the force-wide crackdown on drug dealers, which had seen 115 people charged with supply offences in the Eastern Division, covering Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, since mid-2002.

Over the past six weeks police have stepped up their efforts again, with raids using up to 80 officers on homes in Bank Top, Bastwell and Infirmary, Blackburn, Anchor and Sudell, Darwen, and Great Harwood.

The latest swoops happened yesterday in Audley with six people arrested.

Superintendent Warren Turner, operations manager for the Eastern Division, said: "Communities are telling us they feel safer now and the operation has made a big difference."

Some 29 people who were committing crime to fund a drugs habit have been referred to the Tower Project.

The scheme offers support and police believe it is helping to bring about a long-term solution to drug-fuelled crime.

Officers tell the offenders that if they refuse to take part in the project they will be relentlessly targeted by investigations from other police departments.

But if they enrol, police, and other agencies help wean them off drugs.