West Yorkshire Police are tackling gun crime

Drug hauls and offensive weapons found during stop and search procedures were also the highest outside the Metropolitan police area.

In the 12 months to April 2004, stop and searches saw 76 arrests for carrying of guns and 2,402 for drugs.

Asst Ch Con David Crompton said: "This is about taking the fight against crime to the criminals."

Cracking down

There were 566 arrests for other weapons, 2,579 for stolen property and 1,031 for going equipped to commit crimes.

West Yorkshire Police say the stop and search powers are now one of their most effective weapons in cracking down on criminals.

Mr Crompton added: "Stop and search powers are one of the many effective tools available to police to prevent and detect certain types of crime and help make our communities safer.

"These figures show how the powers have successfully been used to target priority crimes such as burglary, drugs and firearms offences.

"This is about taking the fight against crime to the criminals, if people are engaged in criminality in West Yorkshire they are liable to be searched and arrested."