Police declare all-out war on burglars: The homes of hundreds of suspects were raided yesterday in London's biggest crackdown on housebreaking. Terry Kirby joined the operation

A HEAVY knock on the door is accompanied by the traditional early morning greeting of the detectives: 'Police] Open up]' There is no response from the sleeping occupants and so, after the message is repeated through the letterbox, again without success, the sledgehammer is deployed.

Inside, the shattering of glass is greeted with gasps, grumbles and the cry of a child. Elsewhere in the run-down block of flats in north London there are answering echoes of other doors going down.

The raids were among hundreds carried out yesterday morning, as part of 'Operation Bumblebee', the Metropolitan Police's largest crackdown on suspected burglars.

The occupants of this particular flat had not yet risen to greet the day. Evidence of the previous night's indulgence was scattered about the squalid and dirty rooms: empty lager cans serving as ashtrays, plastic bags of syringes, small plastic bottles crudely converted for smoking heroin and a little bag of cannabis. There is a film of grime everywhere and the floor feels sticky.

The police team - two male and two female officers from the area burglary squad - are here looking for 'M', who has not appeared in court on burglary charges. They find him in one bedroom, confused, bleary and lying in a pit of filthy sheets. In the adjacent bed is his mother, a registered heroin addict. The room is littered with drug-taking paraphernalia; two ripped-out car seats provide the seating accommodation. They both start shuffling around looking for their early morning drug - cigarettes - and pulling on crumpled clothes.

'M' hides his cigarettes behind his bed - 'because me mother keeps stealing them' - and one of the police officers discovers that this is also where he keeps two heavy iron jemmies for burglary.

M's mother is bright-eyed and sparky, and asks for a cigarette. When a detective chides her for leaving needles all over the place, she shows him a picture of her granddaughter, which was lying next to the heroin pipe. 'There's a warrant out for me as well,' she admits.

A pale, shivery couple and their two children share a grubby duvet amid a front room filled with detritus. 'Looks like somebody's already turned this place over,' says one detective as he begins sifting through the rubbish, looking for stolen property, unanswered summonses and bail forms, stolen cheque books or Giros and any random items that might provide a clue to criminal activity. He moves carefully down a line of coats slung across a bannister, searching pockets warily in case there are syringes.

The duvet family are an unexpected bonus. Although the man first gives a false name, it transpires that he is on bail for a recent robbery and is one of those sought in the raids two floors below. The children watch wide-eyed at their father being questioned; it is unlikely to have been the first time.

He is escorted from the flat with barely a backward glance at his wife, by now padding about in a grubby T-shirt. A computer check reveals that she has previous convictions for theft and forgery, but since she is not wanted for any offence, the woman is left behind with her children, sweeping up the glass and waiting for the council to come and repair the door.

Everyone else heads for Wood Green police station and hours of form-filling; it is likely that 'M' and his mother will be released on bail before the day is out. Left behind at the flat, on the kitchen table next to the black and greasy toaster, is Operation Bumblebee's calling card, a search warrant.

Almost 400 people, including many juveniles, were being questioned last night after the Metropolitan Police launched its biggest crackdown on people suspected of involvement in burglary.

Early morning raids on more than 600 properties took place as part of the Operation Bumblebee campaign which was launched London-wide earlier this week.

The pounds 500,000 publicity campaign aims to encourage the public to take anti-burglary measures and to report suspected burglars or dealers in stolen property. The campaign is being backed up by surveillance and targeting of known and suspected habitual burglars, many of whom are wanted for other crimes such as drugs dealing. Paul Condon, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said yesterday that the service had declared 'a war on burglars'.

He added: 'Our intention is to make burglars feel the same kind of fear that they have generated in law-abiding people in the past.'

More than 200 officers took part in the raids around London. Large quantities of property were recovered, including electrical goods, computer equipment, stolen chequebooks, credit cards and passports. Large amounts of drugs inluded heroin, cannabis and crack. A number of weapons were also recovered, including firearms.

(Photograph omitted)