Police have promised they will continue to keep a former haven for dealers a drugs-free area.

Last autumn, Oxford police mounted an undercover operation, called Operation Barter, to target drug dealers operating from the city's Bonn Square, outside the entrance to the Westside shopping centre.

Twelve people were arrested and last week, George Ward, 33, of Sandfield Road, Headington, was jailed for four years after admitting four charges of supplying heroin.

In the same court, Stephen Mason, 44, of Coison Close, Cowley, admitted supplying heroin and is awaiting sentence. Now Thames Valley Police said it is working in partnership with other agencies to improve Bonn Square so that it cannot be re-claimed by other dealers.

Det Insp Simon Chesterman, who led Operation Barter, said: "Thames Valley Police, alongside its partnership agencies, has put a lot of time and effort into tackling the problem of drug dealing in Bonn Square.

"Operation Barter has been a resounding success and I am sure the public would agree that Bonn Square is now a much more tranquil place to sit in and enjoy. We have returned the area to what it was intended to be in the first place, a memorial garden."

He said a number of agencies in Oxford had used Operation Barter as an opportunity to target addicts who picked up their drugs from Bonn Square. Oxford City Council's crime co-ordinator, Richard Adams, said a number of agencies were now discussing proposals for the redevelopment of Bonn Square.

Story date: Tuesday 22 February

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