Sleeping street awakes to the sound of a battering ram

THE early morning peace in a sleepy Leek street was shattered by the sound of a battering ram taking a front door off its hinges.

A young boy in his school uniform could be seen inside a targeted house after police in helmets and armoured uniforms stormed inside to search for drugs.

Most homes in Haregate Road were still in darkness when the raid on the respectable-looking semi-detached property took place.

A van-load of officers pulled up quietly in nearby Tittesworth Avenue at around 7am.

The team identified their target and wasted no time in starting their assault on the uPVC front door.

As officers began to force their way in, shouts could be heard from inside the house. Seconds later, most of the door lay on the grass in the front garden while officers poured in.

Those inside the property were detained before officers started a thorough search that would take a couple of hours.

The street, which would soon be busy with children on their way to nearby Churnet View Middle School, remained quiet despite the disruption. A few neighbours peered out from behind their curtains, but nobody ventured outside.

With the search under way, a police sniffer dog was brought to the house and officers erected the Operation Nemesis flag to let the surrounding community know what was happening.

Residents then began to appear, but carried on with their daily business, trying not to pay too much attention to the police activity.

Meanwhile in Knutton, police carried out two simultaneous raids at separate addresses just a few doors apart in Moran Road.

Two vans pulled up at about 7am and more than 20 officers walked up the street armed with protective equipment and battering rams.

Residents could be seen peeping through their windows as officers began to force entry to the properties, sending a deafening noise down the road. At one address, the occupant had barricaded his front door with wood and several officers were involved in trying to bash it down.

After a few minutes, officers who had made their way to the back of the property managed to gain entry and met the occupant at the back door.

They signalled their success with a cheer and the team flooded in.

Lights then appeared across the rest of the house as they began an extensive search. Specialist sniffer dogs were brought in and officers could be seen from outside the property combing the house for evidence.

Neighbours setting out for work or taking their dogs for a walk said they were not shocked by the early morning proceedings as they had witnessed several raids in the road over the past year.