THIS is a pretty naïve idea but I always like to think that the festive spirit does not just make you pop £1 in a collection box but gives you a warm feeling towards your fellow human beings.

Unfortunately, crime figures reveal that, of course, it doesn’t and that there are many individuals in towns like Bolton who consider this time of year as just another “business” opportunity.

Local traders and police are already warning about a surge in counterfeit notes handed over for goods in places like The Haulgh, where fake £20 notes are going through the tills.

The Bolton South Neighbourhood Policing Team is distributing cat bells to deter pickpockets, plus attack alarms and number plate kits to motorists to prevent theft.

Sgt Mike Jennings there said that they would be stepping up patrols in Farnworth town centre over the Christmas period “to make sure that it is a hostile environment for thieves and those intent on causing trouble through anti-social behaviour.” So let’s hope this conspicuous presence deters some scallies.

He also advises, though, that there are steps that residents themselves can take, and police are organising a series of events to help keep people and their possessions safe. Police have also been giving out free anti-burglary kits from a “burglary battle bus” at Middlebrook.

It is a great shame that we need to tighten up home and personal security alongside making our plans for the festive food and drink and whether we should have family contests on the Wii on December 25. But it is a fact of life.

Nor does relieving people of their hard-earned possessions automatically equate with poverty (there are plenty of decent folk around who have little themselves and wouldn’t dream of stealing from others). In the same way, anti-social behaviour and violence should never be excused by having consumed too much alcohol or drugs (no-one forces anyone to take either — it is entirely voluntarily).

However, having taken practical advice on board, none of this needs to spoil our Christmas.

Like most other things in modern life, we merely need to accept that there is a dark side to the holiday along with all its seasonal brightness. And it need not eclipse the enjoyment.