MORE than 70 named criminals have been detained during the first day of Operation Hunted.

The operation, which was launched on Monday, has seen 73 people arrested by police already including a 35-year-old man who has been wanted since November 2017 for a number of offences such as burglary and assault.

It is hoped the Operation will reduce the number of 'named offenders' who are wanted across Merseyside for serious crimes, linked to live investigations or have breached terms of their release from prison.

Policing teams will be using their local Twitter accounts to use the hashtag '#OpHunted' to update communities on any arrests as well as encouraging anyone with information to come forward.

Chief superintendent Rob Carden, who is coordinating the force-wide operation, said: “This is a fantastic result.

"In just one day we have managed to detain over 70 people who were wanted for a variety of offences.

“I want to assure the public that this is not a one-off and that the good work will continue in the coming weeks and months to find outstanding offenders and bring them into custody.

“Our most wanted individuals will also on our website and social media under the hashtag #OpHunted and I would encourage people to take a look and share information with us so that we can put as many people as possible behind bars."

The operation will involve police officers, detectives, roads policing units, specialist search teams, the cannabis dismantling team and matrix officers.