MORE than 70 police officers swooped on homes in raids targeting alleged racists.

Fifteen teams in riot gear, including police dogs, and dog handlers, raided 16 addresses in Bexleyheath, Northfleet, Welling, Belvedere, Barnhurst, and North Heath. At one address they forced entry with a battering ram.

The officers, drafted in from the Metropolitan Police Territorial Support Group, were part of a crackdown on race hate crimes.

Four men have been charged over a string of racist attacks. The suspects are white, aged between 15 and 20 and from the Bexley borough. Three men are charged with grievous bodily harm and violent disorder. One man was charged with possession of a stun gun and pepper spray. A further 12 men were released on police bail.

Police arrested 15 men and one woman on following an investigation into five race hate attacks in the Northumberland Heath area in September. A further suspect handed himself in following the raids. The woman was later released without charge.

FULL STORY IN FRIDAY'S BEXLEY EXTRA