POLICE chiefs insist they are making "giant strides" in their battle to tackle child grooming in Bolton and across Greater Manchester �— after the force's training was criticised in a report published this week.

The report, commissioned by police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd, revealed that cases of child exploitation being referred to specialist Bolton unit Phoenix Exit rose by 21 per cent last year.

A total of 91 cases were investigated in Bolton last year, while 360 children in the town were reported missing.

Greater Manchester Police chief constable Sir Peter Fahy welcomed the report's findings and said child exploitation was an "absolute priority" but stressed that protecting vulnerable children was "the responsibility of us all".

Report author Stockport MP Ann Coffey was especially critical of the training of officers.

She found that only 21 per cent of officers had received child sex exploitation training �— while no PCSOs had been trained �— something she said was a "glaring" omission.

Mr Fahy said: "We welcome the recommendations within the report.

"Our specialist training is already being rolled out across the force, and an internal awareness campaign is underway to further educate and inform the entire workforce.

"The increased training also enforces the need to apply the 'child sex exploitation flags' on cases where we believe that exploitation may exist.

"PCSOs, special constables and other staff with integral, community-facing roles will also receive this training."

He also praised the work of specialist child exploitation units in each division, and reinforced the fact that the force had doubled its number of specialist officers in the last 12 months.

Mr Fahy emphasised the "giant strides" being made by the force against those who commit "horrendous crimes against children".

Phoenix Exit, run jointly between Bolton Council and GMP, is located in Breightmet House in Bury Road.

Margaret Asquith, director of adult and children services at the council, said the rise of cases in Bolton shows the town's child sex exploitation team was capable of identifying vulnerable children.

In Bolton, girls aged 14 to 16 accounted for 70 per cent of victims, while only 3.2 per cent of all child complainants were boys.