CRIME is up by eight per cent in Greater Manchester, according to latest figures, at a time when cuts are threatening the positions of frontline officers.

The Office for National Statistics has released crime numbers for the period between December 2013 and December 2014.

Violent crimes are also up by 35 per cent in the region, while sex offences are up by 42 per cent, with 4,435 recorded during the period.

Domestic burglaries are up by three per cent, while robbery and theft levels have stabilised.

In 2010 Greater Manchester Police had just over 8,000 officers. This has dropped to just under 6,500 this year as a result of cuts to funding – and hundreds more are expected to go.

Bolton's police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd said: "In Greater Manchester we have witnessed an about face in levels of crime – in October 2013, crime was falling, but by April 2014 crime started to rise and so began a worrying trend that is continuing today.

“Yet despite facing increasing demand, Greater Manchester Police has seen its officer numbers decimated by a swathe of government cuts that show no sign of easing.

“Behind these statistics are real people – the victims – and we should never lose sight of that."