POLICE stormed two houses in two Oxfordshire villages and seized what is believed to be thousands of pounds worth of cocaine.

It was the second time in ten days police had carried out raids in south Oxfordshire and officers have warned anyone involved in drugs that there is no place to hide.

A squad of officers and a sniffer dog burst into homes in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Benson early yesterday.

The raids were not linked, but come after a raid in Warborough, on Wednesday, February 6.

About 14 officers raided a house in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell at 7.30am and five stayed there, while the others moved to Benson at 8am.

A 34-year-old man, of Greenmere, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, was arrested on suspicion of possessing class-A and class-C drugs.

In Benson, officers smashed their way through the glazed front door of a detached home in St Helen's Way. None of the occupants was at the property.

Nine policemen spent an hour-and-a-half searching the house and back garden, before seizing several plastic bags filled with white powder.

Other bags filled with what is thought to be cannabis, and other items relating to drug use, were also seized.

A police spokesman said the powder was likely to be cocaine worth thousands of pounds on the street.

However, a full laboratory test would have to be carried out before the type of drug and its value was confirmed - which could take up to four weeks.

The spokesman said there had been no arrests at the Benson house.

PC Liam Busby, who led the operation, said: "We are happy with this."

He said officers had found suspected drugs and drugs paraphernalia in a bedroom. The drugs were hidden in a pair of boxer shorts in a chest of drawers.

PC Busby said they were trying to find the occupier of the house to speak to him about what they had found.

The raids were carried out as part of Operation Maelstrom, a new operation targeting major crime in south Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse.

The spokesman added: "Most people associate these crimes with urban areas, but crimes are being committed in the country and we are keen to clamp down on this. These warrants prove that."

About £20,000 worth of cocaine was seized following the drug raid on a house in Sinodun View, Warborough, this month.

Four people were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and were bailed until Saturday, March 22.