Published: Sunday, 14th March, 2010 11:35am

Major police crackdown on gang and street violence in Slough

A MAJOR police crackdown on street violence and knife crime has been carried out in Slough this weekend.

More then 120 police officers descended on the town in waves from Friday at midnight for a 28 hour period of action.

Operation Portcullis, funded by the Home Office, centred around action against gang violence, which has recently become a concern in the area.

Police intelligence suggests that there are problems between a gang in Slough and a gang from West London.

Supt Chris Shead said: "It is a new development in Slough. We have not suffered any gang issues for a long long time. But it has blown up in the last month. There are people intending to come into Slough to cause disorder."

He added that a 'rematch' between the gangs was likely.

On Saturday night the police focussed on a number of key areas including in and around Montem Leisure Centre, Slough and Burnham Train Stations and the High Street. Weapons detectors were set up at both the stations and leisure centre, and a passive drugs dog was also on hand. The operation was backed up by a firearms unit which was on stand-by.

A specialist search facility was set up behind Slough Police Station by the Home Office which provided officers with sophisticated searching equipment if required. This included an x-ray machine, a specialised knife arch and a scanner which detected contact with drugs.

The major operation comes just weeks after a 16-year-old boy from West London was charged with allegedly firing a shotgun and making death threats following a late night incident at Brunel bus station.

Was Operation Portcullis a success? See next week's Observer for a full report and pictures.