3:40pm Wednesday 25th June 2008
By Emily Allen
POLICE stormed two neighbouring homes in Didcot and seized a haul of drugs in a dawn raid yesterday.
The two raids started simultaneously when a squad of 15 officers burst through the front doors of two adjacent semi-detached properties in Synderford Close, Ladygrove, shortly after 5.30am.
Police found more than £1,000 in cash, scales, seeds and a collection of small plants in one house, along with two small bags of white powder in a work bag.
In the neighbouring property, officers found 18 small bags of suspected cannabis on a bedside table. Officers said it appeared to be ready for sale and collection.
Sergeant Fraser Weller, of Thames Valley Police, said: "It was very successful. It will deter would-be offenders.
"Didcot hasn't got a drugs problem especially, it's no worse than anywhere else, but there is probably a lot more going on we don't know about - so we need the community to let us know where the problems are."
He said it was "purely a coincidence" the properties were next door to each other.
Police said they did not believe the incidents were connected at this stage.
Officers took almost two hours to comb the two properties.
They also searched two vehicles, the gardens, gutters and used special swabs to test light switches and door handles for traces of drugs.
A 43-year-old neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said: "It was frightening the raid happened so close to us.
"We heard a lot of banging. I think this is the first time a raid has happened in Ladygrove."
Another neighbour said: "We saw it all out the window. They could have done it a bit quieter, it woke us all up."
A 56-year-old mother-of-three added: "I have lived here ten years and sometimes there's a bit of trouble and then it dies down again.
"At the moment I think the police are doing a good job. It's a nice place to live."
A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance and cultivating class-C drugs.
And a 23-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possessing class-C drugs with intent to supply.
Both were still being questioned by police when The Didcot Herald went to print.
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