DRUG dealers have been taken off Bury's streets and locked up in a successful police operation to rid the town of crack cocaine.

Sentences totalling 31 years and ten months have been handed down since Operation Benson was launched in Bury last March. Police chiefs have stressed that the war against drug dealers, many of whom openly sold crack cocaine on the streets, will continue.

Sixteen people have been arrested since Operation Benson began and ten of the drug dealers received jail terms ranging from two years and four months to four years. Many of those charged pleaded guilty.

Detective Inspector Bill Beddows, of Bury CID, said: "Operation Benson was our divisional response to the Governments national Operation Crackdown which was aimed at targeting drug dealers who were selling crack cocaine.

"Under Operation Benson, we have made arrests within Bury town centre and the surrounding area. And we also recovered crack cocaine with a street value of around £3,000."

Last year, the Streetwise Pool Hall in Bury's Back Haymarket Street was raided by police officers after allegations it was being used as a drugs den. The move came after months of intelligence gathering on drug dealing activities. The hall was later closed down.

Six men were charged in connection with supplying drugs after officers swooped on houses in the East Redvales and Moorside areas.

A ten-strong squad has not only been instrumental in targeting dealers but also in stemming the flow of crack cocaine.

Commenting on the success achieved to date, Det Insp Beddows added: "The fact that 12 people have already been convicted shows the scale of the drug dealing in Bury and the fact that our lads are continually involved in arresting more dealers. We are delighted that we have managed to get them all convicted. Now, we are looking for more."

Police have judged the success of Operation Benson on the word from the streets in terms of the availability of crack cocaine. "The feedback we have received is that these drugs haven't been available in Bury because we have taken out the dealers."

But Det Insp Beddows stressed: "We are not letting up. Operation Benson is ongoing and we will continue to target and arrest people who sell crack cocaine. That is the firm message we want to get over to everyone and is in line with Government thinking on this problem."

Earlier this month, police arrested two men and seized crack cocaine with a street value of £10,000 after raiding a house in Willow Street, Bury.