POLICE have been stepping up their crackdown on drugs in Wellington and have reported a number of positive results.

Officers raided a home in Parker Close on October 1 and seized 167 cannabis plants which were discovered in the attic of the property.

One male was arrested and another attended Wellington Police Station voluntarily to be interviewed.

In another incident on September 25 officers attended a house in Longforth Road and seized 1kg of a white powder suspected of being ketamine which they found hidden.

A male resident of the property later voluntarily attended Taunton Police Station where he was questioned regarding the suspected drugs.

The white powder has been sent off for analysis.

The incidents were reported at Wellington Town Council’s meeting on Monday by PCSO Steve Hill.

Cllr Nick Smith thanked the police for their drug-busting work in the town.

Police have suggested in the past that the perception of a drugs problem in Wellington is much greater than it is in reality.

Officers carried out an online social media survey on a Facebook page related to Wellington earlier this year in which people said the three issues they were most worried about locally were anti-social behaviour, speeding traffic and drugs.

But the latest crime figures for Wellington released showed that there were fewer than five drug-related offences in the town for the whole of September.

Sharon Baker, the partnership officer for Wellington Police, speaking in July, said: “There is a perception that there are drug-related issues in the town.

“We wouldn’t like to say there is a massive drugs issue because there isn’t, but when we hear about it we deal with it.”

But what police do need in the ongoing battle against drugs is for law-abiding people to act as their ‘eyes and ears’ and report anything they might think is suspicious by calling 101.