AS THE Evening Advertiser's Swindon Drugs Hotline celebrates its first birthday police vowed to keep up the pressure on the dealers who ply their trade in the town.

Six of the biggest heroin and crack dealers operating in Swindon are behind bars and police have vowed more will follow.

The confidential tip-off line has also helped clear thousands of pounds worth of drugs off the streets.

The man in charge of the line has hailed it a success but said there would be no resting on laurels.

Detective Sergeant Gerry Watkins has urged the people of Swindon to continue playing their important role in the fight against drugs in the town.

He heads the team which monitors the line and gathers intelligence about drug dealing in Swindon.

There have been 260 drug-related arrests during the 12 months since the line opened.

Although there are no exact figures, police said a significant proportion of these came as the result of calls to the hotline.

Det Sgt Watkins said: "During the first year, we have had a total of 386 calls.

"Obviously, this is an average of more than one a day, but the calls tend to come in waves.

"Sometimes the hotline can be quiet, but at other times, such as when an article appears in the Evening Advertiser which highlights the drug menace, we can have several calls close together."

He said hotline calls had resulted in numerous arrests and seizures of drugs.

In the most recent case, a group of people were arrested. They are due to appear in court following the seizure of about £1,000-worth of crack cocaine and heroin in Stratton.

Det Sgt Watkins insisted that there was still much work to be done and that the hotline could be an even bigger success in the future with even greater public involvement.

He said: "The level of public support has been excellent so far.

"We promise to follow up every call made and to respect the confidentiality of every caller we never waver on that.

"If drug dealers are preying on somebody's community, we expect those people to do something about it. Even people who do not usually like to have much to do with the police should remember that drug dealers prey on entire communities, especially the younger people, and the hotline is a way of fighting this."

Callers to the hotline played a key role in smashing the town's two biggest supply chains.

Two gangs responsible for selling much of the heroin on the streets of Swindon are behind bars.

All six offenders were arrested during a swoop on 19 addresses across the town in July last year. The raid was planned using intelligence from the drugs line.

Barrie Hudson