MORE than 60 police officers took to the streets of Middlesbrough as an unprecedented crackdown on drink-fuelled bad behaviour got under way.

They were accompanied by Cleveland Chief Constable Sean Price who delivered his "zero tolerance" message in person.

Twenty two people were arrested in the weekend swoop.

As a police helicopter hovered overhead, a convoy of police vans and cars arrived in the town's bar and club heartland.

They were joined by British Transport Police (BTP) drug sniffer dogs and Middlesbrough Council enforcement officers.

Chief Inspector Andy McDyer, force operations manager at Middlesbrough, said: "The reason we have operations like this one is to send out a clear message: If you are coming to Middlesbrough to take drugs we will lock you up.

"If you are coming to Middlesbrough for 24-hour drinking, we will lock you up."

BTP Sergeant Nigel Ashworth, who recently visited Chicago to share his crime fighting expertise with the Drug Enforcement Agency, said: "Out of all people, 99.9 are decent. They just want a nice, safe night out without being exposed to drugs and offences related to drugs misuse."

Chief Inspector Gary Stephenson, who ran Saturday night's operation, said the 10,000 to 15,000 people who regularly converge on the town for a night out "place a significant demand on police resources".

His boss, Mr Price, told The Northern Echo: "The idea of extended drinking is really a good one, in that it was about setting up a caf culture. The problem is we are not getting applications through from cafes, strangely enough.

"One problem we have is binge drinking."

The police checked the credentials of door staff, looked out for under-age drinking, drug taking and public order offences on Saturday night, through until Sunday morning.

Collie-springer spaniel cross Charlie and fellow drug dog, a labrador called Digga, picked up the suspected scent of drugs on the clothing of 22 clubbers. Four people were arrested for being in possession of drugs.

Two were arrested for robbery, five for being drunk and disorderly, nine for public order related offences and two for assault.

Three taxi drivers were also reported for offences.

The swoop came on the same weekend that Home Office figures revealed the North is top of a national league table for under-age drinking.

The figures are being challenged by North-East police forces who say they are flawed.

Northumbria Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup, whose force area is shown to be the worst, says that the figures do not appear to be an accurate reflection of young people arrested in the Northumbria Police area.

There were 603 under-18s prosecuted by Durham Police in 2003 for being drunk and disorderly and 715 in Cleveland, in the same year.

Cleveland Police said the weekend's "justified" operation in Middlesbrough was not a one-off - but will be repeated over the coming weeks.