LIKE many communities in Bristol, Southmead has its share of problems with drugs.

The threat of crime from people stealing to pay for drugs can cast a shadow over entire neighbourhoods, and parents are often too scared to let their children play outside because of the discarded needles that litter the streets and parks.

Equally as bad, the lives of users are blighted by a near-unbreakable cycle of addiction.

But over the last two weeks police have led a determined operation to take the estate back from the drug pushers and return it to those people who make Southmead one of the strongest communities in the city.

More than 50 officers raided homes to arrest dealers, seized drugs worth thousands of pounds on the street and paved the way to shut down drug dens. The Post joined officers from Southmead's neighbourhood police team and Operation Beacon, a team that deals with drugs and the anti-social behaviour connected with them.

After special briefings, teams carried out coordinated busts at houses across the estate to ensure dealers and their drug runners could not tell each other what was happening.

In Charfield Road police burst into a house in search of a drug dealer. A father to two youngsters, his home was full of toys and children's clothes. But stuffed inside a shower unit in the bathroom were a number of wraps of heroin or crack cocaine. A man and a woman were later arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

On Cranmore Crescent officers raided an upstairs flat and detained two men in the lounge. Heavy drapes covered the windows, and in the dingy main room police searched through cushions, clothing and under ornaments – anywhere drugs could be concealed.

They had already found squares of tin foil and a crack pipe, typical paraphernalia of a crack den.

As he searched the premises, Sergeant Matt Britton said: "Drug users coming here intimidates neighbours, and people shouldn't have to live with this next door. Us coming here hopefully gives people confidence."

Homes such as that one can now be closed down for being crack houses, a tactic which is key to disrupting the network of drug dealers.

Sgt Britton said: "It makes it obvious to people on the periphery of these networks that they will lose their homes, because the misery caused by their activities simply will not be tolerated by the community."

Raids and searches were also carried out on businesses in Southmead. On Friday police went to the Treble Chance pub on Greystoke Avenue and the White Horse in Westbury-on-Trym. At the Treble Chance officers swabbed surfaces to test for drug use and a specialist sniffer dog was brought in to search for drugs on punters. Nothing was found at either pub but the operation was a success in that it reassured people that drugs won't be tolerated in the area.

A key goal for the police was to tackle the drug network at its very root – by helping the users whose addictions allow it to spread in the first place. Every person spoken to in relation to drugs was offered help and encouragement to get rehabilitation.

The operation was only possible because of information from the community, and police were determined to repay the residents who were brave enough to speak out.

Sgt Britton said: "Southmead has no worse a drug problem than many other areas of Bristol, but we are determined to improve the quality of life for the community.

"People are genuinely relieved when things like this operation happen. It helps them live normal lives, in which their kids can play in their gardens and they don't have to worry about having their windows open or locking everything away."