Suspected drug dealer and man wanted for possessing a knife arrested in Preston ‘day of action’ by police

Increased uniform officer patrols were stepped up in Preston city centre Pic: Preston Police

Stepped up police patrols in Preston city centre saw two arrests made last week.

Preston Police say they were responding to community concerns with the increased patrols.

An 18-year-old man from Preston was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs.

A 42-year-old man from Preston was also arrested for failing to appear in court – in connection with possessing a bladed article.

Police also carried out a number of stop and searches as part of patrols.

Sergeant Tom Rettie from Preston’s neighbourhood policing team said: “This is just a snapshot of the work that we carry out every day to tackle the issues which matter most to our communities and we will continue to work alongside our partners to combat them.

“We would encourage local residents to take our Lancashire Talking survey so that they can tell us about issues concerning them and so that we can direct our resources appropriately to tackle those issues.”

The patrols were carried out in the city centre which is now covered by a Public Space Protection Order as of December which sees police and city council officers able to issue fixed penalty notices if a host of different anti-social behaviours are observed. Preston City Council is currently consulting on expanding the order to cover a swathe of Fishwick and Frenchwood.

But police said the arrests and increased patrols were in response to their Lancashire Talking survey where drug dealing and anti-social behaviour were identified as issues in the city centre.

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