Ten people have been arrested in a cross-county crime crack-down.

Officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate and Tactical Operations team launched a three-day operation in an effort to combat burglaries, thefts of high-value vehicles, motoring offences and domestic abuse.

The operation started on November 22 and saw three people arrested on the first day.

A 23-year-old man was locked up in Dartford for breaching a domestic abuse order and possession of cannabis while a 37-year-old man, also in Dartford, was detained for multiple offences including theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving and assaulting a police officer.

On the same day, a 27-year-old woman was arrested in Swanley on suspicion of drug driving.

The following day a car reported stolen from the Bromley area was stopped in Swanley following a pursuit.

Five teenage males between the ages of 15 and 18 were arrested and released on bail.

Later on November 23, a vehicle was seen by officers in an unmarked police car being driven away from a petrol station at speed in Thames Road, Dartford.

After stopping a short distance away, two men attempted to flee on foot but were caught and arrested.

False registration plates were found on the vehicle which also contained numerous items of meat and alcohol inside that are believed to have been stolen. A hunting knife was also found.

Both men, aged 30 and 27, were arrested for offences including theft and possession of a bladed item and released on bail.

Throughout the operation, seven traffic offence reports were issued.

Officers also recovered one stolen vehicle and seized an abandoned car that had previously been driven in a suspicious manner near a farm in the Gravesham area.

Detective Chief Inspector Patrick Milford of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: “Equally important as the arrests made was the amount of information we were able to obtain into a number of ongoing investigations relating to serious and organised criminality.

“Burglars, thieves and other criminals do not recognise county boundaries or care which force is responsible for policing a particular area.

“All they think about is making money from and taking possessions that do not belong to them.

“It is therefore very important we know who is travelling in and out of Kent with the intention of committing crime, and that we work with neighbouring forces to take action against them.

“This work will continue in the interests of everyone who lives and works in Kent.”