A CAR wash and tanning salon were shut down as part of a crackdown on organised criminal gangs.

The anti-crime blitz across South Lanarkshire also saw £350,000 seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act as well as five tanning salons charged for operating without licences.

During the two-week blitz 258 people were arrested and 321 reported to the procurator fiscal.

And last week two fake guns were seized by police after reports of someone shooting a firearm in Biggar.

Officers also seized a number of airsoft weapons from teenagers.

Senior officers say Operation Myriad, which covered South Lanarkshire, from Cambuslang and Rutherglen to Hamilton and Lanark, has made a massive impact on crime.

Superintendent Elaine Ferguson, based at Hamilton Police Office, said: "We are delighted with everything we've achieved.

"We've tried to target the anti-social behaviour experienced by residents across South Lanarkshire as well as bogus caller crime and serious and organised crime groups.

"With these groups, we looked at all the ways they are working without licensing and looked at how they try to make money out of people."

The car wash, in Lanark, and the tanning salon, in Rutherglen, were both bypassing electricity metres.

Three second-hand tyre businesses in Rutherglen and Blantyre were charged for trading without a licence.

Superintendent Ferguson added: "You can imagine the dangers the staff and people using these services were in.

"Families could buy a second-hand tyre and think it's legitimate but they could be driving down the road and it blows out."

During the crackdown, police also discovered 204 counterfeit bottles of vodka in Hamilton and 87 in East Kilbride.

Elsewhere, a 47-year-old man from Lanark was reported in connection with a handgun.

A total of 165 fixed penalty tickets were issued to people over alcohol related offences after police targeted known drinking dens.

More than 50 fixed penalties were issued for public urination, 46 for breach of the peace offences and more than 400 litres of alcohol seized.

rachel.loxton@ heraldandtimes.co.uk