Residents came out of their homes to praise police as officers rounded up car criminals in Brighton.

The Hollingdean/Hollingbury area accounts for 25 per cent of all thefts of and from cars but offences were slashed by 90 per cent in a three-day crackdown last week.

The normal tally of 20 crimes in three days was cut to two as police carried out high-profile patrols and targeted known offenders.

Inspector Steve Curry, in charge of Operation Shaft, said: "People came out of their homes to stop officers and thank them for their efforts."

Several arrests were made and on the final night of the three-day crackdown more than 50 people were stopped and searched and another suspect was taken into custody.

Mr Curry said: "We intend making this a sustainable reduction and efforts will continue to stop this blight and to bring culprits to justice.

"Bringing vehicle crime down to two in 72 hours is a fantastic effort and I am tremendously proud of the officers who took part. They were all motivated and very hard working."

One of those arrested had been tagged by court order for previous vehicle crimes.

Mr Curry said: "This individual is notorious and we intend applying for an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) to ban him from the area."

Operation Shaft has been running for several months and has resulted in a number of asbos being imposed on prolific car thieves.

Mr Curry said Asbos were part of a broad-band approach to car crime in the area.

He said: "We are using high-profile patrols and covert operations and we are employing the latest forensic techniques to catch offenders including DNA profiling.

"This is how we intend making the reduction in crime sustainable."

Mr Curry said the public could help by providing information on offenders. Call Brighton and Hove police on 0845 6070999.