THREE men were arrested on suspicion of drug offences in Harrogate as police continue their crackdown on county lines drug dealing.

Officers from North Yorkshire Police’s proactive team, Operation Expedite, were on patrol in plain clothes in the Avenue Grove area when their suspicions were raised by a man who they stopped and searched.

The officers found class A drugs on him.

Enquiries then led officers to search a nearby property where they found three other men who were also searched.

The officers recovered more drugs stashed in a mattress, £200 in cash from one of the men and other suspected drugs paraphernalia including three mobile phones.

The arrested men include a Leeds man, aged 50 and two Harrogate men, aged 39 and 38 arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs.

A fourth man, aged 26, from Harrogate, was arrested on suspicion of theft offences.

All three have been released while under investigation to allow for further enquiries to be carried out.