LONDON drug dealers are believed to be running more than 50 "county lines" operations in Sussex.

These typically involve drugs gangs from large cities expanding their networks into smaller towns where there is less competition from other gangs.

The word "lines" refers to the mobile phones, which the dealers use to arrange the sale of drugs.

Speaking at a public meeting on Friday, Sussex Police deputy chief constable Bernie O’Reilly said there were estimated to be around 50 such drugs networks currently operating in the county.

Mr O’Reilly said: “We have disrupted drug dealers coming down into Sussex and we have also disrupted addresses where they were trying to get a foothold to use as one of the established addresses for selling the drugs.

“Since August we have recorded around 72 county lines disruptions and 40 arrests for county line offences, including two for modern day slavery.”

He added that gangs often targeted young children to act as dealers and drug runners.

There is also often "extreme violence and intimidation" as gangs attempt to set up in a new area, he warned.

Mr O’Reilly was responding to the news that the National Crime Agency had set-up a new national centre to crack down on "county lines" operations.

The Home Office says the multi-agency team of 38 experts will help to coordinate information and target the most serious offenders.