HUNDREDS of suspected criminals have been arrested in the first two weeks of a police operation across North Yorkshire.

Operation Delivery, which aims to cut the time it takes to bring offenders to justice, was launched force-wide on September 8.

Senior officers said this week that 430 extra offenders had been arrested across the county so far.

At a press conference at Richmond police station on Tuesday, Supt Kevin Doyle, crime commander for the western policing area, said: "Operation Delivery is about performance.

"It is about targeting individuals who break into people's homes and cars and cause violence on the streets. It is about ensuring we arrest more offenders, convict offenders and increase detection rates."

The key to the operation, which would now become permanent practice across the force, was a change to the methods by which incidents were handled by officers.

Traditional shift patterns meant a designated officer would deal with a particular incident, leading to delays when he or she finished a shift, had a day off or leave, or was ill.

Under the new regime, officers work more as a team with the emphasis on cutting from days to hours the amount of time it takes to arrest a suspect.

Chris Holgate, of the district crime team, set up in May, said the traditional shift system was inflexible and could delay cases by several days.

"Now, if an officer is unable to complete dealing with a crime within his shifts and duty rota, someone else will follow it up," he said.

Examples of success included a persistent offender burgling a premises at 2.30am, sufficient evidence for an arrest being gathered by 2pm and an arrest at 4pm, when stolen property was recovered.

In another instance, a three-strong gang of female shoplifters, who stole to fund a drugs habit and cost one market town economy an estimated £94,000 a year, were arrested within hours of an offence.

Insp Charlie Kay, of Richmondshire police, said persistent offenders were particularly targeted by the operation.

"If we can arrest within 12 hours of getting a fingerprint or other evidence, he has not got the chance to commit another crime," he said.

"We are setting daily targets and we are trying to turn things around in 12 to 24 hours to get that person arrested."

In the western area, which includes Richmondshire, Harrogate and Craven districts, 132 extra suspects were arrested.

Sgt Mick Griffiths said 52 different cases were investigated in Richmondshire under Operation Delivery. They included burglary, theft, vehicle crime and assault.

By Tuesday of this week, 38 cases had been concluded successfully and the remaining 14 were under investigation.

"There are eight people we are in a position to pursue and arrest today," he said. "One lives in the south and another is a long distance lorry driver. One was arrested this morning."

One case, involving assault, affray and criminal damage, took just 48 hours to crack.

Supt Doyle said the continuing success of the new policy depended heavily on the help and co-operation of the public.

"Staff have to be commended for how they have picked up the challenge, but we will get better only with the support of the public and a steady supply of information and intelligence that we have never been in a better position to act upon," he said.

Part of the Operation Delivery drive had been to improve call handling at police headquarters, where in the past members of the public have had difficulties in having calls answered.

"There has been an increase in call handling staff over the last two weeks and the percentage of calls being answered has risen and will continue to rise," said Supt Doyle.