A crackdown on North Yorkshire’s most wanted criminals has seen hundreds arrested and tens of thousands of pounds of cash and drugs seized.

Operation Drystone, which ran from October 2008 to March 2010, aimed to cut down on offending which affects the quality of life for residents across the county. North Yorkshire Police Authority has now revealed there were 549 arrests in the 17 months.

In this period, 55 warrants were also executed, 15,828 hours were spent on patrol, there were 6,178 public engagements, 13,859 posters or leaflets were issued, 387 people were summoned to court, and 372 fixed penalty notices handed out. A total of £48,905 of cash and 168 vehicles were seized and 164 breath tests were carried out.

A report, due to go before the Authority, said: “Operation Drystone was the largest operation of its kind ever to have taken place in North Yorkshire and the City of York.

“As part of this initiative, the focus fell on drug dealers and burglars in addition to targeting crimes such as antisocial behaviour and garden thefts, the purpose of Operation Drystone being to focus on elements of crime that some dismissed as minor, but which were not considered minor by the victims.”

Operation Drystone cost about £1 million to fund with police overtime, training, outside agency costs, premises rental, equipment costs, additional uniforms, fuel costs and vehicle hire all contributing to the bill. The operation was given its own dedicated team of police officers.

Assistant chief constable Sue Cross said: “Our communities can take great confidence from the success of Operation Drystone which has provided a flexible approach and enabled us to inject resources quickly and effectively into any area of the county.”