Seven arrests and a cannabis farm of more than 850 plants, after Merseyside Police and partner agencies targeted Rock Ferry and New Ferry on 11 September.

Officers found a cannabis farm of more than 850 plants spread across multiple floors of a property on Bebington Road on Friday, during a day of action across Rock Ferry and New Ferry that ended with seven arrests.

Merseyside Police published the detail at 8.17pm the same evening (Police and partners target crime and anti-social behaviour in Wirral communities, Merseyside Police). Scottish Power attended the Bebington Road property to make it safe. The force has asked anyone who saw suspicious activity or vehicles around the location to come forward. It has not said where along Bebington Road the property is.

The operation ran on Friday 11 September and was aimed at the two communities together. The force says it was planned from information gathered through neighbourhood policing, community engagement, partner agencies and reports from members of the public, which identified specific locations, individuals and issues.

The concerns it lists are:

  • drug dealing
  • the exploitation of vulnerable people
  • serious violence
  • criminal damage
  • wider anti-social behaviour

What our own figures show

The force does not publish the local numbers behind a day of action. We can.

New Ferry sits inside the Bromborough policing neighbourhood, and reports of anti-social behaviour there have risen sharply through the summer. There were seven in May, 23 in June and 30 in July, the highest month in the eight published up to the operation (street-level crime, data.police.uk). July 2026 is the most recent month the Home Office has released.

Anti-social behaviour reports in the Bromborough policing neighbourhood, which covers New Ferry, December 2025 to July 2026 Bar chart. Reports of anti-social behaviour: December 2025, 3. January 2026, 6. February, 2. March, 15. April, 8. May, 7. June, 23. July, 30. July is the highest of the eight months. Anti-social behaviour reports around New Ferry, month by month Bromborough policing neighbourhood, which covers New Ferry and Port Sunlight. Reports rose four-fold between May and July. 3 Dec 6 Jan 2 Feb 15 Mar 8 Apr 7 May 23 Jun 30 Jul One caveat: these are reports recorded by police, so the count can rise when officers are more visible, not only when behaviour worsens. Source: data.police.uk street-level data for the Merseyside Police Bromborough neighbourhood boundary, December 2025 to July 2026. Graphic by Wirral Online

Rock Ferry has its own policing neighbourhood, which runs north into Tranmere and stops short of New Ferry. Its July figures were the busiest of the same eight months: 177 recorded crimes in total, including 18 drug offences and seven of possession of a weapon. In every other month since December the weapons figure was between one and four.

That is the case for going in. It is not proof that the day of action worked, and one caveat matters in both neighbourhoods: these are reports recorded by police, and the count can rise when officers are out and residents are talking to them.

The seven arrests

All seven were made in Rock Ferry, New Ferry and Birkenhead. As the force described them:

  • a man of 26, on suspicion of commercial burglary and possession of cash, controlled drugs and an offensive weapon
  • a woman of 33, on suspicion of theft and fraud offences
  • a wanted woman of 36, on recall to prison
  • a woman of 23 and a man of 19, on suspicion of retail theft
  • a woman of 48, on suspicion of drug driving
  • a wanted man of 41, on recall to prison

No one has been named, and an arrest is not a charge or a conviction. The day began with early morning warrants aimed at people suspected of involvement in organised crime, including drug supply and human trafficking.

Who else was there

This was not a police-only operation. The force says it worked with Wirral Council’s Community Safety Team, Trading Standards, Merseyrail and HM Revenue and Customs, alongside its own neighbourhood teams and specialist officers.

Each partner brought a different job:

  • Merseyrail: patrols and stop-search activity at local stations and on the rail network, to deter offending and give passengers a visible presence.
  • Trading Standards and HMRC: checks on vape shops and convenience stores, targeting illegal tobacco and vaping products.
  • Mounted officers: high-visibility patrols through New Ferry and Rock Ferry.

Chief Inspector Colin Dyer said the activity “may have been focused on specific areas here on the Wirral, but it sends a clear message that we will continue to target those involved in crime and anti-social behaviour and protect the communities they affect”.

He added: “We know issues such as drug dealing, violence and anti-social behaviour can have a real impact on people’s lives and their sense of safety. By working closely with our partners, we can tackle these problems more effectively and address the concerns that matter most to local residents.”

Cllr Jenny Johnson, chair of Wirral Council’s Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, said: “Once again our hard-working officers have joined with counterparts in the police and other agencies to tackle people who are involved in activities that are harmful to our communities. I hope they soon get the message that they will be identified and targeted and their activities are not welcome in Wirral and will be stopped.”

What it means for you

  • If you live near the Bebington Road property, the force wants to hear about suspicious activity or vehicles you noticed around it. Call 101 or direct message @MerPolCC.
  • If you were waiting on a report you made, this is what those reports fed into. The force says the targets were identified partly from information given by the public.
  • If you run a shop selling vapes or tobacco in either community, expect the Trading Standards and HMRC checks to continue. They were part of the day’s plan, not an afterthought.
  • A day of action is a single day. Whether it changes anything will show up in the monthly street-level data, and the next release covering August is the first place to look.
  • You can check your own street on the police.uk street-level map, which is where our figures come from, updated monthly and free.

Planning decisions affecting Rock Ferry and New Ferry are tracked on our Wirral planning news page. Council tax bands across the borough are on our council tax page.

Sources