POLICE are taking a hardline on drug dealing in Malton and Norton with officers carrying out a successful campaign to crack down on offenders.

Inspector Andy Everitt, of Ryedale Police, told members of Norton Town Council, that one of their key achievements of the past year had been clamping down on those who supplied drugs in the two towns.

"Drug dealing had begun to start again but we have taken a hard stance at stamping out including a successful warrant which was carried out recently on an individual who was operating as a drug runner," he said.

"Our approach is to deter and disrupt and we will continue to focus on key individuals as well as using live intelligence on anyone who is about to carry out a deal."

Insp Everitt said it was often like a game of "cat and mouse".

"If we see an increase in the number of burglaries then that is an indication that the drug problem is on the increase as break-ins are often related to individuals seeking money to buy drugs," he said.

"At the moment we are not seeing those burglaries but we still have lots of ongoing activities to keep that under control."

Insp Everitt told councillors that to popular belief the majority of local drug users were not unemployed.

"We have about 200 drug users in Norton and two thirds of those are in work," he said.

Insp Everitt said overall violent crime in the night time economy was significantly down on last year and the Malton and Norton Pubwatch scheme was working very effectively.

"There is a lot of cooperation between the pubs in both towns, as well as those in Pickering, Kirkbymoorside and Helmsley, who have also started a Pubwatch scheme," he said.

"They now have the policy that if offenders are banned from one pub they are banned from all in Ryedale and cannot travel to another town and drink in a pub there."

Insp Everitt said reports of sexual assaults were on the increase, which he attributed to Operation Yewtree, the police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, against Jimmy Savile.

"People now have more faith in agencies and are coming forward to say what happened 10, 20 or 30 years ago is not acceptable," he added.

Insp Everitt said he was concerned about the growing sexualisation of young people in the area particularly through social media.

"We are doing a lot of work with the area's secondary schools over the dangers of young boys and girls sending nude pictures and then being victimised and bullied for money or threatened that the photos will be distributed to others," he added.

"Unfortunately we are also seeing more and more children sexualised at a young age and older people exploiting those young people who want to grow up too quickly."

Anyone who has information about crime in the area, should phone North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option one or for advice and support go to northyorkshire.police.uk