Samurai swords seized and £500k cannabis farm busted as hundreds of cops swoop in bid to 'take baddies off Bury's streets'

In the shadow of Sir Robert Peel's statue, hundreds of police officers are preparing to 'take the baddies off the streets' of Bury. It's just turned 6.30am but already a huge operation targeting criminals across the borough is under way.

Over the course of today, dozens of arrests will be made as doors are smashed in and a huge haul of drugs and weapons seized as part of Operation Avro. With 'the father of modern policing' looming over him, Chief Superintendent Chris Hill addresses the neatly assembled lines of officers opposite Bury Parish Church.

Invoking the words of Bury's most famous son, he reminds those gathered that 'the police are the public, and the public are the police'. "That's why we get out of bed in the morning," he adds.

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"Today, you're here in Bury to keep the people of Bury safe. I want 50 cars off the streets, I want 100 plus baddies off the streets of Bury today. That's down to you to do that for me."

The action kicks off just minutes later with a series of raids in streets around the borough. One of the homes police swoop on is a terraced property in Ulundi Street, Radcliffe.

After demands for those inside to "open the door" fall on deaf ears, a battering ram is produced. Police officers smash their way in through a back door and burst inside the property to find a cannabis farm and three bags containing 1kg of cannabis.

Around the corner in nearby Victoria Street, officers raid another property where they discover a cannabis farm made up of more than 40 plants, as well as £1,000 in cash and three bags filled with around £3,000 worth of cannabis.

Bewildered neighbours watch from their doorways in dressing