POLICE are encouraging the public in Teignbridge to report incidents of harmful drug activity.

The move is part of Operation Scorpion where police operate in conjunction with British Transport Police and other agencies with the aim of reducing harm from drugs.

Officers in Buckfast worked with Teign Housing to distribute posters encouraging people to report drug nuisance.

The posters outline causes for concern, and feature contact details for the police and a QR code which directs smartphones directly to police online contact forms.

Neighbourhood Beat Manager PC Claire Hurrell said: ‘We are encouraging our communities to report information and intelligence about drug activity to us, working with partners such as Teign Housing.

‘We want people to report anything that’s impacting them such as anti-social behaviour, drug paraphernalia or unusual activity.

‘The public really do hold key information that contributes to the picture the police build up about what’s happening in the community.

‘Relevant and reliable information, even the smallest incident, could be the thing that, when added to other intelligence, enables us to carry out a warrant or other intervention on a property.’

Jodie Gould, community housing officer for Teign Housing, said: ‘Teign Housing deals with anti-social behaviour complaints from our tenants, or about our tenants.

‘We work in partnership with the police and local authority and require information from the community.

‘The more reports we have, the better we can come up with a solution that may involve Good Neighbour Agreements, Community Protection Warnings, and tenancy breach action.’

Alongside arrests of people suspected of taking part in criminal activities and the seizure of drugs, cash and weapons, Operation Scorpion officers also engaged with the public to educate them about how to report issues and on how to spot the signs of vulnerable people being exploited by criminal networks.

In Buckfast, residents can report repeated or single incidents, as they all add to an overall understanding of issues.

The Noise App for smartphone users records unreasonable noise incidents and automatically reports them to Teign Housing.