THREE men were arrested in early morning raids today as York police warned criminals they have not been side-tracked by a quadruple murder inquiry.

Police smashed doors with battering rams at five addresses in Clifton, York, and two in Selby, searching for Class A drugs and stolen property.

Thirty-five officers and a sniffer dog raided the houses as part of Operation Chirl, a crackdown on known criminals in hotspot areas of York and Selby.

Surprised occupants at a house in Rowntree Avenue, York, awoke to the sound of shattering glass and splintering wood as officers forced their way in to search the property. Officers also forced the door of a house in Peter Hill Drive.

Two local men were arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs and one man was arrested on warrant.

Acting Chief Inspector Glyn Payne, who led the initiative with Acting Sergeant Guy Wilson, said more operations were planned in the coming weeks.

He said: "We want to demonstrate that we haven't taken our eyes off the ball with recent events and we have the resilience to handle those investigations and still be on the front foot taking the fight to tackle criminals.

"The message to send out to criminals is that police officers in York and Selby will be calling at their door very soon - there is constantly no rest for them."

Acting chief inspector Payne also thanked the public for their cooperation. "These operations come off the back of intelligence from the community. At times, the community don't think we action their information but sometimes we're working behind the scenes and we request that people continue to be our eyes and ears."

Updated: 10:45 Thursday, July 29, 2004