By VoA Newsdesk –

More than £35,000 in illegal products have been seized across a Huddersfield community, as part of an initiative to make the area a safer place for all.

Cigarettes and Vapes Confiscated

Officers joined forces with West Yorkshire Trading Standards (WYTS) in an attempt to seize illegal goods in the Ashbrow Ward of Huddersfield.

They visited four stores in Ashbrow, seeing them take over 400 packets of illegal cigarettes, 30 pouches of rolling tobacco, and nearly 2000 illicit oversized disposable vapes.

The overall value of these goods is estimated at a value of £35,000.

Uninsured Drivers and Off-Road Patrols

Specialist off-road bike officers from the Kirklees Nuisance Anti-Social Behaviour Team conducted multiple patrols and dealt with three motorists for driving uninsured vehicles.

A number of visits were also conducted to known offenders living in the Ashbrow area in order to disrupt potential criminal activity. One male was arrested for breaching court bail.

Community Clean-Ups and Outreach Support

Kirklees Neighbourhoods and Homes, Probation Community Payback, Change Grow Live, and Safer Kirklees were those working alongside West Yorkshire Police.

This partnership work also included clean-ups of three parks in the area, as well as drug and alcohol outreach, and housing visits.

‘Unity: Shape Up’ Strengthens Community Confidence

Launched in November last year, ‘Unity: Shape Up’, a part of the Clear Hold Build initiative in Ashbrow, was set up between Kirklees District Police and Kirklees Council.

Clear, Hold, Build, developed by the Home Office, is an innovative framework set up to help police forces tackle serious and organised crime.

Ashbrow launched the scheme last year, with the naming coming from the children at North Huddersfield Trust School.

It is designed to make areas safer and increase public confidence in the police, in working together with partners to reclaim and rebuild neighbourhoods.

Ongoing long-term enforcement work by police has also been targeting organised criminal groups operating in the Ashbrow area.

‘More Actions Planned’

Chief Inspector of Kirklees District Police, Rebecca Calpin said: “This has been the third action day, and the third to deliver real, visible results to residents”.

“The feedback we have had from communities has been really positive.”

Calpin added: “Much more is of course planned, and we intend to keep on delivering tangible results for residents in the Ashbrow area.”