ARMED police swooped on a Southampton hotel as the finale to the city's biggest drugs crackdown.

Six people were arrested and a large amount of heroin was seized during the operation at the Ibis off West Quay Road.

The late-night raid came after police pulled over a car following intelligence received earlier this week as part of Operation Towngate, a two-week blitz aimed at ridding the city of drug-dealers.

A team of armed officers, together with detectives from the force crime unit and Southampton's crime team, descended on the Ibis and searched three rooms just before midnight on Thursday.

Four men and two women were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and were being questioned at police stations across Southampton yesterday.

Police said five were from the Birmingham area while one woman was local.

A large quantity of heroin was seized, along with other drugs and a substantial amount of cash. Although it was initially feared a firearm could have been involved, no weapons were recovered.

In total 27 people were arrested and more than 20 search warrants executed during Operation Towngate, aimed at disrupting the supply of hard drugs across Southampton.

Today detectives unveiled one of the fortnight's biggest seizures - 170 wraps of cocaine and more than £3,100 in cash from a house in the Inner Avenue area of the city.

Det Sgt Damon Kennard, Southampton police's divisional intelligence manager, said: "This is just the first of many such operations planned for the future and we are delighted with its success.

"We know that these arrests will have a significant impact on the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in this city and we will continue to work to disrupt this trade.

"Our message is clear and simple. Drug dealers are not welcome in Southampton, and we will do everything in our power to rid the streets of them and make the city a safer place."