A joint operation between police and the tram network is proving a big hit in tackling antisocial behaviour.

The joint initiative between Operation Reacher officers from the Radford area has been organised as a way to reassure the public and take a strong stance on those causing issues on the trams and platforms.

In a bid to protect staff and members of the public plain-clothed officers have been patrolling both the tram carriages and platforms across the network which runs to and from Hucknall.

The operation which has only been running for two months has already seen officers arrest a man for having a weapon onboard a tram, detain wanted people, and protect staff from customers who chose to be aggressive and abusive.

Sergeant Mark Westlake who came up with the idea explained how his officers will be there, should they be needed, in plain clothes to protect the general public who are using the tram to go about their everyday lives.

He said: "The purpose of the collaboration with the tram service is to use plain-clothed officers to specifically target those people who cause antisocial issues or commit other offences.

"This will ultimately provide reassurance to the customers on the trams that we are there should we be needed.

"It will also provide reassurance to staff as well who will hopefully feel safer in the knowledge that plain-clothed officers are patrolling and taking a positive and robust stance against those who cause concern to law-abiding people and genuine people who are on the trams.

"At this point, we are running it as a pilot scheme throughout the Radford area but if the results we have achieved so far are anything to go by then it could be rolled out across other areas."

The first day of the targeted operation saw officers swiftly arrest one man after spotting a knife hidden inside a jacket.

Sergeant Westlake added: "On day one of the operation I sent some of my officers out in plain clothes and they spotted a subject soon after who was in possession of a knife partially concealed within his coat.

"We were able to detain him and he was subsequently arrested, charged and remanded to court in relation to having a bladed article in a public place.

"We've only been doing this for two months but since then we have detained several people who were wanted after they brought attention to themselves for something as simple as not buying a ticket and being aggressive to the revenue people that are simply just doing their job.

"We will step in if we witness that kind of behaviour towards the tram staff as we are not going to tolerate that.

"At the moment the main aim is to provide reassurance to staff members and the public that this way of travel continues to be one of the safest modes of transport and is a fantastic privilege we have to use in Nottinghamshire.

"These examples are very few and far between thankfully however, we just want to be there for normal everyday people that use the tram network so they can be reassured that my staff are on the trams and are there to protect and help them."

Working alongside Nottingham Express Transit, officers will also be able to target those continuing to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to ticket machines, card readers and shelters.

Julian Smedley, Operations manager for Nottingham Express Transit (NET), said: "We simply will not tolerate antisocial behaviour on our network.

"We do everything we can to prevent this as the safety of our passengers is our primary concern.

"We work effectively with the police to tackle antisocial behaviour on our systems and as well as acting as a deterrent our high-quality CCTV system that we have both onboard and on the platforms is a very useful tool for the police to identify offenders.

"Because of this we have seen some considerable successes over the last few months.

"The safety of our passengers is our primary concern and I see this partnership that we have with the Operation Reacher team as a key to that success continuing.

"Antisocial behaviour has a very negative impact on our passengers and also just as importantly on our staff as well.

"We are really keen to provide the best possible transport service we can and we are very keen to keep that momentum going and tackle antisocial behaviour at every single level.

"Tram travel is considered to be one of the safest forms of travel but that's not to say we are complacent at all, we are very keen to work with the Operation Reacher team to continue to eliminate this type of behaviour on our network."

For information on how Nottinghamshire Police deals with antisocial behaviour click here.