FOUR men and a child have been arrested after police saw pictures of weapons being wielded on internet sites such as Facebook.

FOUR men and a child have been arrested after police saw pictures of weapons being wielded on internet sites such as Facebook.

The weapons on the web images were tracked down as police staged a major blitz to tackle gang violence and disorder in North Lanarkshire and Strathkelvin.

Officers said the five were arrested by the Strathclyde Police gangs task force after allegedly appearing with weapons on sites such as Bebo and Facebook.

As part of Operation Access, officers have been trawling sites to clamp down on illegal behaviour.

Launched last July, it has seen police cadets using their expertise and knowledge of social networking sites to gather intelligence.

The arrests came as almost 400 police officers hit the streets of North Lanarkshire in the latest stage of Operation Fleet which sees American-style lock downs. They were among several made last Friday in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth, Strathkelvin and surrounding districts.

The crackdown started with dawn raids, and over a 20-hour period, 15 people were arrested under warrant and a further 21 people were arrested for a variety of offences including carrying offensive weapons, assault, street trading and shoplifting.

Police stopped and searched 168 people and 228 visits were made to licensed premises. The mounted branch, dog branch, and uniform patrols were involved.