Watch as Northumbria Police use chainsaw to enter Newcastle home in raid

Raids were carried out across Newcastle in a day of targeted action.

Over 16 arrests were made and weapons, drugs and cash were seized by Northumbria Police on Tuesday as part of Operation Impact- an operation which aims to show support for those living in ‘high harm’ communities.

The force-wide Operation Impact was launched in Sunderland and South Tyneside last year and sees the force concentrate on particular types of offending that have been flagged up by members of the public as of particular concern.

Teams were deployed around Byker, Heaton and Jesmond to raid houses simultaneously in the morning and afternoon. Police forced their way into the homes with search teams, in one instance using a chainsaw- which can be seen in the video.

Alongside the raids, police were deployed around the community, with knife arches placed at Byker and West Jesmond Metro stations and the mounted section doing patrols.

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The areas targeted were flagged as ‘high harm and high target’ areas which needed extra support from the force.

Anyone aware of any form of criminal activity in their area is asked to contact police and report it.

​You can do so by using the ‘Report a Crime’ or ‘Tell Us Something’ pages of the force website, or by calling 101. In an emergency, or if a crime is taking place, always ring 999.