More than £167,000 worth of drugs have been seized across Warwickshire during a week of action targeting drug dealing in the county.

The County Lines Intensification Week saw 23 arrests made - leading to two charges - and £6,800 in cash seized as eight warrants were executed across Warwickshire.

Three missing people were also found while safeguarding was put in place for another five vulnerable people.

And following the week of action between October 3 and 10 Warwickshire Police is urging local people to look for the signs of young people being exploited by drugs gangs.

Young people are often targeted to act as drug runners as part of county lines so they can avoid detection by police.

In some cases dealers will take over a property belonging to a vulnerable person and use it to deal drugs from. This is known as cuckooing.

People exploited in this way will quite often be exposed to physical, mental and sexual abuse, and will sometimes be trafficked to areas a long way from home to sell drugs.

DCI Neil Readers, head of Warwickshire Police Proactive CID, said: "This was an extremely successful week that left drug dealers in Warwickshire significantly out of pocket. We also gathered a significant amount of intelligence that will help us to continue to target county lines criminals.

"Our intelligence has shown that following last week's activity the supply of drugs in some parts of the county has dried up considerably; this is great news for local people. Unfortunately, we know this won't last and this is why we are appealing for the public to help us tackle the problem.

"Please be aware of the signs of drug dealing and exploitation and report concerns to police. The information you provide could be the missing piece that helps us to protect a vulnerable person, bring offenders to justice and take drugs off the streets."

For more information on spotting the signs of county lines drug crime and exploitation go to County Lines | Warwickshire Police