By anyone's measurement, Operation Stalebank run by Bradford police to crack down on the drug trade in the district has been a remarkable success.

The two-year operation has resulted in 119 prosecutions which have seen jail terms totalling 364 years handed out, which should make a sizeable dent in the dealing of illegal drugs in Bradford.

Drugs have an insidious and wide-ranging effect on our local communities. They are dangerous, they create anti-social behaviour, they lead people into a spiral of abuse, addiction and crime to feed their own habits.

Operation Stalebank was put into place to take out those at the top of the drugs tree, cutting off supplies and removing major figures from the criminal landscape of Bradford.

In that it has been hugely successful, and credit must go to those undercover officers especially who put their own necks on the line to infiltrate the drugs gangs in order to gather evidence which could bring about prosecutions.

Cause for celebration, of course. But everyone is also aware that while this is a major battle won, there is still a war to fight on the scourge of drugs.

We, as the law-abiding public, must do our bit by remaining vigilant and reporting to the police our suspicions about drug dealing in the district.

Operation Stalebank came about because of reports to the police from Bradford communities who were fed up of their neighbourhoods being ruined by drugs.

If more successful operations are to be carried out and yet further advances made into quashing the drugs trade in Bradford, this partnership and trust between the police and the public must be strengthened and continued.