Raids and recruits : the new focus at Avon & Somerset Police

Around 700 police officers have disappeared from Avon & Somerset operations in recent years.

It's 7.15am and the police are about to find out if months spent gathering intelligence has paid off.

We're at the door of a suspected high-level drug dealer in Bristol.

Within seconds specialist officers have dismantled a door and located someone inside.

Camera crews have barely had time to press record.

It's a well-oiled machine which Avon and Somerset Police are happy to share with the media.

But underpinning it is the first significant investment in years.

In January council tax was raised to help generate an extra £2 million - and the force has used it to start Operation Remedy

In January council tax was raised to help generate an extra £2 million - and the force has used it to start Operation Remedy - a major crackdown on burglaries, knife crime and drugs.

Since it started three months ago, it's led to 150 arrests and the seizure of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs.

It's also helped the force recruit 100 additional officers.

This is certainly something to celebrate, but it comes against the backdrop of falling police numbers.

Around 700 Avon & Somerset police officers have disappeared from our streets in recent years.

The question is whether this new operation can go some way to reversing some of those cutbacks, and successfully prevent the crimes which members of the public fear the most.