POLICE today revealed that a new approach to crime-fighting has netted 348 arrests.

In March, a hit-list of the top 20 most prolific offenders in the Eastern Division, covering Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, was announced.

Officers from two police departments were banded together and armed with intelligence about the individuals who commit the most crimes, live in hotspot areas and had drugs habits.

They have been patrolling around the offenders' homes and communities to disrupt their activities, as well as using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to catch them on the move.

Replacements are added to the top 20 as arrests are made, making it a rolling hit-list.

The pioneering scheme has been so successful that it is now standard working practice for the road policing unit and support unit under the name Operation Support. For the road policing unit, associated with setting up speed traps and attending crash scenes, it has moved them into the front line. And after three months, 348 people have been arrested for offences such as possession and supply of drugs, burglary, theft, assault, criminal damage, conspiracy, handling stolen goods and driving without insurance.

Not all those arrested are from the top 20, as the patrols and ANPR have also caught others in the act.

Detective Sergeant Andrea Barrow, who is co-ordinating the operation, said: "The massive number of arrests demonstrate how we are not prepared to take our eye of the ball.

"We know who is committing crime and we now have the capacity to arrest them and put them before the courts.

"This is happening on a division-wide scale and our activity is focused every day on arresting those people responsible for committing the bulk of crime in Eastern Division. There is no hiding place."