A MAJOR police operation has uncovered hundreds of pounds worth of heroin and stashes of weapons.

Sixty officers swooped on Nevis Court in Greenock's Bow Farm at noon yesterday.

They searched more than 50 empty flats in the almost derelict building which is set for demolition.

Doors to all flats were forced opened and floorboards were ripped up as officers, acting on a tip-off, hunted for signs of illegal activity.

Every inch of the high-rise block was searched. The roof space, store rooms and lift shafts were closely examined by officers assisted by a team of specially trained sniffer dogs.

The haul uncovered included: • A large quantity of heroin; • Scanners and two-way radios; • A crossbow and bolt; • Baseball bats; • Knives; • DIY equipment, believed to have been stolen; • Electronic scales.

A substance, believed to be drugs, was also found and has still to be analysed.

Today Detective Sergeant Calum Glenny, who is the Local Government Liaison Officer for the police in Greenock, said all of the items had been recovered in a `limited number` of flats.

He added: `This was a highly successful operation.

'We were working in partnership with Inverclyde Council and will strive to detect offenders or, if not detect them, disrupt them.` Tip-off led to huge drugs bust in flats AT 11.50am precisely, a convoy of nine marked and unmarked vehicles left the yard at Greenock police station to begin a major drugs recovery operation.

Sixty police officers had just been briefed on closely guarded plans.

Now they were on their way to begin the gruelling and painstaking task of searching every nook and cranny of a notorious high-rise block of flats in Bow Farm.

They had been tipped off that drug dealers were using Nevis Court to store illegal substances and weapons. It was also claimed that the nine-storey building was being used as a cutting shop for dividing drugs up into small packets for sale.

The building was sealed off, officers stood guard, and the operation to search more than 50 empty flats began in earnest.

Teams of officers from the community police department at Greenock police station, field intelligence officers, dog handlers and experts from support services in Springburn filed into the building.

Nevis Court is not an attractive building from the outside and its dark, dingy core is even more depressing.

It houses nine floors of empty flats. The stairs are dirty and the walls covered in graffiti. Normally there is an eerie silence.

Yesterday, the air was heavy with anticipation and the noise of cutting gear was deafening as officers systematically worked their way round each flat using heavy duty tools and equipment.

Chief Inspector Stephen McGrath said: `Operations like these are put together following intelligence received from members of the public. Information like that enables us to mount operations like these to detect and disrupt criminal activity.` The operation was carried out in partnership with Inverclyde Council and The Antisocial Behaviour Team.

Nevis Court has 55 flats, with just two occupied. The building is earmarked for demolition, but no date has yet been fixed. The remaining residents have been offered alternative accommodation and are due to move shortly.

Robert Cleary, chief executive of Inverclyde Council welcomed the police operation saying: `We are extremely supportive of any initiative which addresses crime and antisocial behaviour and extend our co-operation to all our partners in achieving this.` Yesterday, outside the building, three young men looked on curiously from a safe distance. The parked police cars and the officers standing at the doors hinted at something major but gave away nothing about the true extent of the hive of activity inside. Every empty flat was examined. First the steel doors, many of which had been sealed with silicon by residents, had to be forced open. Within just a few hours officers had recovered hundreds of pounds worth of drugs, weapons and equipment relating to the illegal drug trade.

Now the search is on to find those responsible.

Anyone with information relating to activity in Nevis Court, or anywhere else in Inverclyde, is asked to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, in confidence.