A British Transport Police (BTP) operation targeting anti-social behaviour on trains and stations across south London and southern England resulted in 80 arrests on one day, the same day a major report on the issue was published.

80 people were arrested by officers last Thursday, 23 September, as part of Operation Volcanic, which targeted anti-social behaviour, low-level disorder, cycle crime, public order offences and fare evasion, amongst other offences.

In Thornton Heath 1 person was arrested and cautioned for fare evasion The operation saw over 100 BTP officers conduct uniform and plain-clothes patrols on stations and trains in south London and across southern counties.

BTP Superintendent Andy Ball said: “We launched Operation Volcanic to tackle anti-social behaviour, low-level disorder and other types of behaviour that generally make people feel unsafe and which are often the pre-cursor for more serious offending.

“This operation showed that anti-social behaviour is not something that we tolerate, and our officers regularly conduct high-visibility patrols on the rail network across south London and the south to tackle it.

“This is part of a series of similar operations directed at making the transport network safer and reassuring passengers and rail staff that we won’t tolerate this type of behaviour.”

The arrests included: 30 arrests for ASB, low-level disorder and public order offences 29 arrests for fare evasion 6 arrests for cycle theft 2 arrests for possession of a Class A drug Supt Ball added: “While crime across the rail network in the south is low and has been falling year-on-year, Op Volcanic was aimed at combating the sort of low-level offences which make members of the public and rail staff feel unsafe.

“This type of operation, of which we have more planned, is designed to support our day-to-day policing and will help us drive crime down further still.

“While Op Volcanic appears to have been a success, it’s important that members of the local community continue to tell us about any issues of concern they have in their area, as this allows us to identify any problems and set about tackling them.”

BTP Chief Constable Andy Trotter said: “This is exactly the sort of active police intervention Sir Denis O’Connor was talking about in his report (Recovering our Streets and our Peace, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary published 23 September 2010).”

“Anti-social behaviour is a priority for us and we carry out these types of operations on a regular basis. We focus on violence and disorder, and by using highly visible officers in trouble spots we have reduced crime across the railway.”

To report any anti-social behaviour on trains or at rail stations in your area contact British Transport Police on Freefone 0800 40 50 40 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always dial 999.