DRUGS with a street value of £158,670 were seized in West Mercia following anonymous calls to Crimestoppers between May and July.

Goods and cash totalling £3,850 were recovered in the force area following tip-offs from members of the public.

The latest statistics show 606 ‘actionable calls’ – when police can act on anonymous information received – were made regarding suspected crime in Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire during the 92-day period.

Simultaneously, West Mercia officers detected 50 crimes – including 36 arrests and charges – directly linked to that period’s calls.

More than half of the quarter’s total calls – 320 – related specifically to suspected drugs offences, including trafficking, supply, cultivation and possession.

During the same three months, there were 39 drugs-related detections and 29 arrests and charges, although not all necessarily directly linked to the period’s recorded calls.

Crimestoppers call-takers also received 113 calls about suspected motorists, 51 related to driving while disqualified and/or uninsured, 45 for drunken driving and 17 for other offences.

Pauline Hadley, Crimestoppers regional manager, said: “It is clear from the latest figures that the community is genuinely concerned about those they suspect of being involved in illegal drugs and those who could – and do – make our roads unsafe by unnecessarily putting others at risk by behaving irresponsibly behind the wheel.

"It is important, however, for potential callers to Crimestoppers to remember that not all calls immediately result in an arrest, but that the police often use anonymous information to build up an investigation over a longer period.”

All calls made to Crimestoppers – on 0800 555111 – are anonymous.