A MAN has been arrested as part of a special crackdown on alleged crime being committed on the railway.

David Carter, 34, from Burnley, was picked up by officers from British Transport Police (BTP) who were out in force on Saturday at Preston Station, in the Bank Holiday clampdown called Operation Shield.

He was arrested on suspicion of possession of a class A drug believed to be heroin. He was later charged with possession and bailed to appear before Preston magistrates today.

Police used a walk-through metal detector to try to find anyone found in possession of knives or other weapons and a BTP drugs dog was also at the station.

A 21-year-old man from Liverpool was also arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis and on suspicion of money laundering. He has been charged with poss-ession of cannabis and bailed to appear at Preston Magistrates Court today.

He was released on police bail to return at a later date in relation to money laundering.

A further five people were issued with street warnings for possession of cannabis and one person received a fixed penalty notice for a public order offence.

Inspector Gary Jones, of British Transport Police, who coordinated Saturday's operation, said. "This was another successful Opera-tion Shield initiative which sends the clear message that BTP is committed to preventing drugs and weapons being transferred into and between comm-unities via the rail network.

"The station was very busy with Bank Holiday traffic and the majority of commuters were pleased to see a high profile police presence tackling crime."

Operation Shield is a national campaign to deter knife crime on the railway.