DRUG squad officers swooped on homes in Bolton on Tuesday under a major new operation to arrest a "dealer a day".

Police chiefs have vowed to rid Bolton of the scourge of drugs and plan to execute a number of warrants at homes across the town over the next two weeks.

And , as one man was arrested in a dawn swoop on a house in Keswick Street, Halliwell, the head of Bolton police, Chief Supt Dave Lea, said: "There will be no hiding place."

Officers acting on information from the public have targeted known dealers after a three-month undercover operation.

Chief Supt Lea issued a blunt warning for the town's drug dealers: "We are coming to get you. We know who you are and where you live."

As part of the operation, 11 detectives used a battering ram to smash down the front door of the Keswick Street house at 7.30am. After the man was led away, officers made a two-hour search of his home. A second raid was carried out later at an address in Lawn Avenue, Halliwell.

Officers plan to raid a number of addresses every day to combat dealing in Class A drugs -- heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine.

A 25-year-old man, detained in Halliwell on Monday, was the first to be arrested under the crackdown, codenamed Operation Chipata.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of drug dealing and was being questioned by detectives today. Police say a quantity of a substance believed to be heroin was recovered.

Undercover officers started work on the operation last October, probing the activities of known suppliers of class A drugs.

Chief Supt Lea said: "The hard work is over now. With the help of local residents, we have identified our targets and gathered the evidence we need to put them before the courts. The next two weeks is simply a question of rounding them up."

If you have any information about drug dealing in your community, call 0161 856 5709 anonymously.