Our reporter tracks police on morning mission

Advertiser reporter Kirsten Mcstay was on the scene as officers raided an address in Burnbank. Here is her account of how the events unfolded... It was an early rise for me last week as I made my way to Hamilton Police Station for 7am to be briefed on what exactly I could expect.

I had never done anything like this before and had only really seen this sort of thing on TV, so I was looking forward to watching events unfold.

Myself and 25 officers gathered in a room within the station to find out all about this stage of ‘Operation Forward’ and who would be going where, as well as some information provided by intelligence.

The tip-off had led officers to believe that there might be drugs found in various different properties in Burnbank and one down the road in Blantyre.

After the briefing, officers scattered over the four addresses and I jumped into the police van with the community cops and set off to George Court.

Officers stepped into the block of flats, making their presence heard, and it was clear that no-one was in the property and entry was forced using a battering ram, the team then immediately scoured the flat.

Six officers and a sniffer dog thoroughly searched the property in search of drugs and anything else related.

After around 40 minutes of checking cupboards and under beds, the search was declared negative.

However the police radio told us that officers down the road in Blantyre had come across a high quantity of cash and other high value goods worth thousands of pounds.

Operation Forward is all about making Lanarkshire a better place, and long may it continue.