A DEDICATED new squad to target Southampton's most prolific criminals was unveiled by police today.

The Southampton crime Team will be made up of three specialist units to investigate house burglaries, vehicle crime and street robberies.

A total of 22 detectives and uniform officers have been drafted on to the permanent new unit, based at Hampshire police's divisional headquarters in Hulse Road, Southampton.

The restructure follows the success of the city's burglary investigation unit, which was set up in February 2003 and has led to many prolific burglars and handlers being jailed.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the unit has brought about a downward trend in the overall number of burglaries committed across Southampton in the past three months.

Now police chiefs are hoping the success will be mirrored by the formation of the city's new vehicle crime and robbery investigation units.

Today it was revealed the vehicle squad, which was set up on January 5 but kept under wraps for two weeks, had already arrested more than 15 prolific car thieves.

The robbery team has arrested a team of five youths believed to be behind a series of street attacks around the St Mary's area.

Under the umbrella of the Southampton Crime Team, all three squads will focus on dealing with key criminals and high crime areas across the city.

Det Insp Dick Pearson, leading the new team, said: "The main message is hard targeting of offenders.

"We know that our key players who are out there committing dwelling burglaries are also committing theft of or from vehicles, and also on occasion street robberies.

"We are all dealing with the same offenders but now there is a large pool of officers available. We are able to react to information about key offenders and target them more effectively.

"Our daily diet will be reacting to forensic evidence, undertaking warrants and building up intelligence."

He added: "Our aim is to reduce crime in these key areas across the whole city and make a safer living and working environment for all."

Det Insp Pearson said his team, consisting of three sergeants plus 18 detectives and uniformed officers, would be working closely with the pro-active response team based at Southampton Central police station and other police across the division.

Former detective Helen Ward will be playing a vital role as office manager, with responsibility for spotting linked crime and hot spots at an early stage, identifying incidents requiring further analysis and liaison with scenes of crime officers, victims and outside agencies.

Police do rely on information from members of the public to help identify and target offenders.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Southampton Crime Team at Hulse Road on 0845 045 4545, or the anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.