Police arrested 45 people in a two-week operation to crack down on crime in north Oxfordshire.

Operation Juggernaut was a co-ordinated operation to target anti-social behaviour, burglary, robbery, knife crime and drug offending in town centres.

In total, 45 people were arrested and 21 street cautions were issued.

Sgt Greg Auger, who led the operation, said: “These were all self-generated arrests resulting from 268 stop and searches.

“The results have been great, and the reduction of crime in the area has continued, showing the community that Cherwell is a safe place to be and that we will not tolerate any type of criminality in the area.”

Extra patrols raised the visibility of officers, increased the number of stop and searches, stop and account, warrants and arrests.

Knife arches and police dogs specialising in drug searches were also deployed at late night venues in the towns.

Insp Neville Clayton, Banbury sector Inspector said: “Operation Juggernaut is a key tool in our battle to keep crime in Banbury and Bicester low.

“It allows us to use resources to target the issues people want us to focus on and these results show the community how successful the operation was.

“We want the small number of people who are responsible for crime in the Cherwell area to be aware that we are watching them.

“We want to reassure residents that, now that the operation has finished, our policing of these areas will continue.”