COURT staff have asked police to stop arresting suspected criminals - as they struggle to deal with a tidal wave of crime-fighting activity.

York magistrates warned senior officers that alleged offenders faced a night in the cells this week as they waited to appear in overloaded court rooms.

The extra cases were the result of the latest Operation Delivery push to arrest those wanted on warrants, for failing to turn up at court and for non-payment of fines.

A total of 96 arrests were made on Wednesday, bringing the number of people arrested since the North Yorkshire crime-busting drive was launched on September 8 to 1,860.

They come as York and Selby's commanding officer urged wanted criminals to turn themselves in so they can be dealt with quickly, and may still be able to spend the festive season with their families.

Chief Superintendent John Lacy said there were 40 "nicking days" left until Christmas and his officers were working 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week to bring people to justice.

He said: "Please take this opportunity to hand yourselves in at York Police Station and think very carefully about serving your sentence before Christmas."

He said many people were wanted for non-payment of fines or breaching community punishment orders and could be ordered to serve short prison sentences.

Gordon Lees, justices clerk for North Yorkshire, said a small "bottleneck" of cases was created on Wednesday and staff asked police not to send any more suspected offenders to court.

But he said staff were doing their best to absorb the extra cases and were working with police to try and avoid forcing suspected criminals to spend the night in police cells.

Mr Lacy said: "Increasing numbers of people are giving themselves up because they cannot face the disruption to their family or at work. People know they are wanted. If they don't, they can call the Operation Delivery team on 01904 669388 to check."

Updated: 10:13 Saturday, November 15, 2003