The operation in Wellingborough town centre saw police make the arrests, all for possession of drugs, with the help of a sniffer dog.

Four small wraps of cocaine, one ecstasy tablet and a small quantity of herbal cannabis were recovered by officers.

The night also saw the trial of Wellingborough Police's new metal detection arch, which can be used to detect concealed knives. This was deployed in the entrance to The Gloucester pub, in Church Street, with the co-operation of landlord and pubwatch chairman Ali McLeod.

No knives or other weapons were found.

Sergeant Tom Griffin, who helped co-ordinate the action, said he felt the night had been successful. He said: "Last night was a resounding success. We are happy that some positive action has been taken.
"We conducted 15 stop searches as a result of the dogs indications.
"We also had comments like 'this is nice to see', so I think the community were reassured by the police presence."

Sgt Griffin was also keen to emphasise that the drug finds did not mean drugs were a serious issue in the town. He said: "There is no indication that there is a drug problem in Wellingborough, because these are recreational type drugs that we have recovered, and we didn't arrest anybody for supplying."

One the new metal detector arch Sgt Griffin said: "This is a piece of equipment that has been made newly available to us, and we can put it up anywhere we wish, such as at events and venues.

"We didn't arrest anyone for carrying knives last night and that is reassuring. People were happy to see the arch there because they knew they could go and and have a good night without worrying."

The Gloucester was chosen for the site of the arch because its landlord, Ali MacLeod, works closely with Northamptonshire police.