DRUGS with a street value of three quarters of a million pounds were seized in a police swoop in Westhoughton.

Two men and a woman were arrested in connection with the seizure of seven and a half kilos of amphetamine sulphate.

Police chiefs have described the haul as a "significant success" in their efforts to combat the drugs epidemic on the streets of Bolton. The seizure is the latest in a spate of recent police successes.

Only last month officers discovered an abandoned cannabis "farm" in the Derby Mill. Inside they found 1,000 plants, in various stages of maturity, with a street value of £1 million.

The swoop in Westhoughton involved officers from the plain clothes department at Astley Bridge Police Station. Officers stopped a car as it was leaving a car park in the centre of the town. Two people inside were searched and officers discovered five kilos of the illegal drug.

As the two people in the car were taken away for questioning officers, acting on a warrant, raided a home. One person was arrested and up to three kilos of the same drug were discovered hidden inside the house.

Supt Stuart Bailey, head of Astley Bridge Police, said: "The recovery of the drugs is a significant seizure in our efforts to combat drug abuse.

"I would urge anyone with information about drugs to contact us. No matter how small the information may be it could be a vital piece in the jigsaw we need."

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