Four shotguns, a rifle with a silencer and ammunition which had all been stolen were seized in police raids targeting a crime ring.

Police said last night they were "relieved and delighted" to retrieve the weapons in one of the biggest finds of recent years in Oxford just days after they were stolen from a west Oxfordshire plant nursery.

The guns were being kept at a house in Headington. Detectives fear they were set to be used by criminals.

But they admitted other firearms taken in the burglary at Rupert GooddyPlants , in Buckland Road, Bampton, were yet to be recovered.

The guns were discovered when 50 police raided two homes in Benson Road and Grays Road on Tuesday.

Eight men and one woman all Eastern Europeans were arrested on suspicion of a range of offences. All were later released on police bail.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Tim Wiseman said officers were investigating suspected offences involving firearms, money laundering and people-trafficking.

He said: "We're not in a position to talk about the background, but what we can stress is that this is an in-depth investigation into serious offences.

"We're not talking about card-cloning, but serious amounts of money. There may be links to people-trafficking, drugs and other crime. This has been a major operation, that required much planning."

One of the men arrested, a 26-year-old, had been served transportation papers to leave Britain once the police inquiry was over, he added.

The guns all found at the house in Benson Road were stolen from a locked gun cabinet at the Bampton nursery, on April 4. They were being kept there legitimately, Mr Wiseman said.

Other guns were taken, but Mr Wiseman said he could not reveal what the other weapons were at this stage.

Police did not release details of the burglary, because detectives believed it could compromise their efforts to retrieve them.

"Obviously any firearm, be it a shotgun or a rifle, in the hands of a criminal is very worrying and the priority for us was their recovery, before they could be used in further crime," Mr Wiseman added.

"We're relieved and delighted to get these guns off the streets. It was a significant recovery."

Anyone with information about the burglary should call Oxford CID on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.