POLICE in North Ayrshire saw a “significant increase” in the number of drug dealers caught this year

A police report presented to councillors said additional resources have been ploughed into finding the criminals behind the illegal trade.

The number of drug supply detections jumped to 35 between April 1 to July 31 – up from 24 for the same period last year.

Chief superintendent Mark Hargreaves told councillors: “There is a significant increase in drug supply detections this year.

“We will continue to take drugs off our streets.”

The Ayrshire divisional commander said drug crime was a priority for him coming into the post earlier this year.

A police report said: “Concerns about drugs and drug dealing continues to be a concern for local communities in North Ayrshire and remains a priority for local policing. To date, there has been an marked increase in detections for both supply and possession of drugs.”

It added: “Following last year’s reduction in drug supply detections, additional resource has been deployed to tackle this Ayrshire-wide priority. This is having a positive effect with a sizeable increase in both supply and possession detections.”

The figures were presented to the North Ayrshire Police and Fire and Rescue Committee this week.

Between April and July this year the number of crimes shot up by four per cent to 4,304.