DRUG users have been targeting Skipton to commit crime to fuel their addictions, a countywide police operation has revealed.

The town accounted for more than a quarter of the 150 shop thefts detected by police during Operation Artery, a three-month campaign to crack down on drug abuse and associated crime.

The operation resulted in 340 dealers and users being arrested with 14 in the Skipton area.

Drugs with a street value of £81,000 were netted and officers seized assets worth £53,000. Craven had the third highest seizure of heroin in the county - its £1,256 figure was only beaten by Scarborough's £3,395 and York's £1,910.

Officers also solved 376 related crimes including 150 shop thefts, of which 40 were in Skipton, and recovered stolen property valued at more than £35,000.

Detective Inspector Mick Moore said: "Craven really took Operation Artery on board, and the number of arrests and seizures reflect the hard work, enterprise and endeavour of the local officers."

Skipton's problems are blamed on its close proximity to the urban conurbations of Bradford, Leeds and Keighley, but it is hoped that the installation of closed circuit television will help to reduce the problem.

A police spokesman said: "There are hundreds of people in prison to show that you can't just come into a place like Skipton, do a bit of thieving and then stroll back to wherever you came from without being caught."

As a result of Operation Artery, 16.2g of heroin with a street value of more than £1,250, 3.1g of crack cocaine, 23 ecstasy tablets, 8g of amphetamine and 102g of cannabis were seized in Skipton.

Meanwhile at Bradford Crown Court this week, a judge warned drug dealers they should not regard Skipton as a "safe haven" for their operations.

Sentencing a local teenager for drugs offences, Judge Roger Scott said the market town was not normally associated with obtaining crack cocaine and other drugs.

"In West Yorkshire, there is a very substantial problem," he added. "However this is North Yorkshire and Skipton is the gateway to the Dales.

"Those who acted as 'warehousemen and bankers' in the drugs trade and moved into Skipton, no doubt thinking of it as a safe haven from the police, must look out - because it is not," said the judge.

Andrew Wrigley, 18, of Clitheroe Street, Skipton, pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine and heroin, possessing the drugs with intent to supply, and possessing cannabis.

He was sent to a young offenders' institution for four and a half years.

The court heard how he had acted as a warehouseman and banker for drug dealers operating in the area.

He was arrested after being found in possession of drugs when police stopped him in Skipton. A search of the address where he was living at the time revealed more drugs.

Judge Scott told Wrigley: "I am passing sentence to punish you but also to deter others."

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