POLICE have arrested 70 people in the east of Suffolk in a month-long crackdown on crime and anti-social behaviour, the force revealed today.Officers from Suffolk police's eastern area have been involved in an Easter campaign aimed at reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice.

POLICE have arrested 70 people in the east of Suffolk in a month-long crackdown on crime and anti-social behaviour, the force revealed today.

Officers from Suffolk police's eastern area have been involved in an Easter campaign aimed at reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice.

The campaign, which ran from Monday, March 19, saw a high number of arrests as police carried out targeted operations, coupled with high visibility patrols.

Acting Superintendent Phil Aves said the campaign had been a success but more work still needed to be done.

He said: “While we are pleased with the campaign and the results so far, we now need to try to continue this good work throughout April and beyond in order to maintain our crime reduction target, but more importantly to reduce the number of victims of crime.

“There have been some significant arrests during the period and some substantial amounts of property and drugs recovered during the police operations, however we would urge the public to continue to play their part in reducing crime by taking sensible security measures.”

During the campaign seventy arrests were made for a variety of offences and police seized drugs, pirate DVDs and a motor vehicle.

Officers also recovered property from a series of house burglaries and a number of burglaries and other crimes were detected.

In the second two weeks the campaign focused on crime reduction, high visibility policing and casualty reduction, and saw fewer arrests, which has been seen as a positive outcome.

Preliminary figures for the traditionally busy Easter weekend showed a 38 per cent reduction in recorded crime over the four-day period compared to the previous year - a total of 183 fewer offences over the Eastern area, which encompasses the Waveney and Suffolk Coastal Districts

Crime overall in the first two weeks of April has fallen by one pc compared to the previous year.

Violent crime, in particular, has dropped with 170 incidents last year falling to 134 in 2007 - a 21 pc decrease.

Police are urging anyone with information which could help them to continue to use the Community Intelligence Hotline on 0800 783 9112.