FIFTY benefit books were among a large haul of property recovered by police in raids on seven houses on a Colne council estate.

Three women and four men were arrested when 20 officers from the Pennine police division, armed with search warrants, carried out the swoops yesterday morning on the Glenroy estate as part of a benefits fraud inquiry involving the DSS fraud department.

The books were found at two of the houses.

Small amounts of drugs were also recovered in the raids and samples have been sent for forensic analysis.

The seven people arrested have been released on police bail pending further inquiries and nobody has been charged.

Detective Inspector Colin Barton said: "We were aware of burglary problems concerning the Glenroy estate and the operation was carried out in line with new police initiatives." The property will be displayed at Colne Police Station on Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 3pm, so members of the public can attempt to identify it.

Among the items recovered were rugs, mirrors, candle sticks, a full set of golf clubs, ornaments, music centres, electric powered tools and a large quantity of jewellery running into thousands of pounds.

Mr Barton said: "We have especially recovered a lot of jewellery and some of it is good class.

"We have not been able to trace the owners of the property and want the public to come along at the weekend to see if it can be identified.''

Anyone who can provide information about the benefits books is asked to contact police at Colne on 01282 863161, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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