Crackdown on Northampton town centre crime has made 150 arrests in two months

Operation Lily launched at the beginning of October with 10 extra police officers, led by area commander Superintendent Chris Hillery, deployed to the town in order to 'bring the fight to the criminals'.

Now, after two months of work, Northamptonshire Police say they are sitting at a total of 150 arrests, 119 stop searches, 493 alcohol seizures and 179 pieces of intelligence logged from the town centre.

The arrests have been for a variety of offences - from anti-social behaviour and shoplifting to possession of drugs with intent to supply and racially aggravated assault.

Superintendent Hillery said: “Operation Lily has come as a bit of surprise to the criminals who have historically used Northampton town centre as a location to commit crime. Not anymore and not on my patch.

“The majority of people in Northampton town centre are hardworking, decent members of society and they do not deserve to shop or live in fear due to a small minority.

“We have really taken the fight to this minority in the past couple of months with some fantastic results netted by the boots on the ground.

“Feedback from the local community has been extremely positive and traders on the Market Square have noticed a significant decline in criminal activity.

“But we will not stop there. Operation Lily is due to continue for the foreseeable future and I look forward to more results and more criminals arrested and brought to justice for their crimes.”

Chief Constable Nick Adderley commented on the statistics in a tweet. He said: "With a placed based approach, targeting those who commit crime and cause misery in our towns and villages, we are making significant headway in our determination to stamp out crime and antisocial behaviour. Much more in the pipeline but we are hitting criminals hard and rightly so."