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Nineteen people have been arrested and tens of thousands of pounds worth of drugs have been seized in a police operation targeting county lines gangs.

Durham Police raided a number of properties around Darlington over the last week, the force said.

Cocaine and MDMA were seized and eight vulnerable people, including five children aged three to 12 were found, a spokeswoman said.

Insp Dean Haythornthwaite said it was a complex operation with months of work.

The 19 people were arrested on suspicion of a variety of offences including supply and possession of drugs, money laundering and fraud.

The force said it was part of a national crackdown on county lines, which was a "form of exploitation in which criminals groom and manipulate children and other vulnerable people into drug dealing".

Insp Haythornthwaite said: "We have not only arrested those believed to be responsible for large-scale drug dealing in Darlington and beyond, but disrupted their criminal networks and seized their laptops, mobile phones, weapons, cars, and jewellery bought with their profits.

"Most importantly though, we have safeguarded eight innocent and vulnerable people - including five young children - who were present at addresses where there was evidence of frequent drug use."

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