Three pitbull type dogs were seized and two people arrested after raids on two homes in Wallington this morning.

Police were acting on information they had received about suspected illegal breeds being kept on the Roundshaw estate.

At 11am officers arrested a 34-year-old woman and seized a dog from a terraced house in Mollison Drive.

About 45 minutes later, officers arrested a 23-year-old man and seized a dog and bitch from a property in Redwing Road.

The man and woman arrested were taken to Sutton Police Station for questioning and have been bailed to return pending a final assessment on the dogs to see if they are banned breeds.

Beddington South and Beddington North safer neighbourhoods teams carried out the dangerous dog warrants with two officers from the Met’s specialist status dogs unit.

Sergeant Paul Cole said the operation was to remove dangerous dogs from the streets on the Roundshaw estate and Sutton.

He said: “We encourage anyone concerned about dangerous dogs to come forward give us information - and we will act on this information like we have done today.

“It’s important to reduce the number of dangerous dogs in local communities to make them safer.”

Last year initiative Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) was launched to encourage responsible dog ownership of all breeds of dog.

LEAD is a police-led venture with partners including Sutton Council, Sutton Housing Partnership, registered social landlords, the Riverside Animal Centre and the RSPCA.