POLICE sealed off a section of a Bournemouth park yesterday as part of an ongoing drugs operation.

Officers cordoned off a wooded area at Meyrick Park, at Central Drive opposite Oakmeadians Rugby Football Club, following an incident at Cemetery Junction and Branksome on Wednesday afternoon.

Seven people have now been arrested in connection with alleged drug offences in Bournemouth and Poole.

Around a dozen officers were seen searching for evidence in the undergrowth using metal detectors and litter-grabbers.

They had cordoned off a perimeter of around 200m yesterday morning.

They were asking passers-by to respect the cordon but advised that there were no threats to public safety.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “Seven men who have been arrested on suspicion of drug offences are continuing to assist officers with enquiries.”

A university student walking nearby, on her way to take a stroll down the beach with her family, said she’d not seen anything like it in the area before.

“We came down here, and saw all the police cars,”she said. “We were kind of curious to see what was going on.”

“It is not completely normal [for it to happen here] but I suppose it could happen anywhere but I haven’t heard of anything like this happening.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, was walking her dog at the time of the search.

She said she walks her boyfriend’s dog there everyday and often hears sirens but had never seen a search like yesterday’s at Meyrick Park while out walking.

An officer remained at the taped-off area for much of the afternoon.

As previously reported, six armed undercover police officers were seen making arrests on Wednesday.

They have arrested seven people in connection with alleged drugs offences.

An eyewitness told the Daily Echo they saw the suspects lying face down in the road near Cemetery Junction as they were arrested by police.

“Six armed undercover police had their weapons trained on three or four suspects while one was cuffing them and shouting commands to his colleagues,” he said.

Another person reported seeing police wearing bulletproof vests emerge from a van.

There were reports of slow traffic due to the incident and bus services were forced to divert away until the road was cleared at around 4.30pm.