Cash totalling almost £2 million and around 800 weapons have been seized in Kent in a knife crime crackdown.

Police have also arrested 1,441 suspects and made 684 drug seizures, including significant amounts of heroin and cocaine, in the last six months.

This follows chief constable, Alan Pughsley's announcement earlier this year that the force would be tackling the rise in violent crime.

Tactics for doing so have included increasing the number of Taser trained officers for the county.

Superintendent Mick Gardner of the tactical operations command said: "We remain committed to maintaining a robust, proactive and zero tolerance approach to knife crime.

"There can never be any justification for anyone to carry a weapon on our streets and we will continue to use both uniformed and plain-clothes officers to maximise opportunities to detect and deter those involved in criminal activity."

Since June, police have been tasked with tackling and dismantling county lines and have also carried out 341 search warrants.

Recent arrests have included a 19-year-old man from London, detained at a property in Grove Road, Chatham in connection with the supply of drugs and robbery on December 2.

A large hunting style knife and a sword were seized.

And an investigation which led to the seizure of heroin and crack cocaine from the air vents of a car in Dover, recently saw Croydon county lines dealer Jaisha Williams sentenced to almost eight years in prison.

Supt Gardner added: "We are determined to do all we can to keep our communities safe.

"Much of our work to tackle knife crime is also linked to identifying and arresting suspects from outside the county, who travel into Kent with the sole intention of supplying drugs and to target and exploit vulnerable people.

"I’m confident we are making it harder and harder for these people to establish a foothold and my message to them is very simple - keep away, or you will be arrested and brought before the courts."

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