GUN violence that spilled over from Salford into Bolton is the work of a 'small number of hardcore organised criminals' who are actively being hunted down, according to the new chief constable.

Shootings in Little Hulton and Farnworth – including that of a 34-year-old injured on his doorstep – have been linked to an ongoing feud between rival gangs in the west of Greater Manchester.

GMP's new Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, who took over from retiring Sir Peter Fahy last weekend, said the force was working hard to catch those responsible and stop the spread of firearms-related incidents that have left communities fearful and frightened.

He said: "We're talking about a small number of hardcore organised criminals who are having a dispute between themselves.

"After the shooting of a seven-year-old boy and his mum in Eccles, I said their reckless criminal behaviour is putting innocent people's lives at risk.

"No, we haven't arrested anyone for Paul Massey's murder but we have arrested upwards of 50 people in connection with the dispute.

"We have seized large numbers of firearms and drugs. We haven't had thankfully any further shootings since that seven-year-old boy was shot."

He said GMP was not merely reacting to high-profile gangland brutality but working proactively to combat it.

Mr Hopkins said his officers had launched a series of successful intelligence-led raids based on months of painstaking background work.

The chief constable said: "We still have 50 detectives on the case and armed response vehicles patrolling Salford.

"We'll do all we can until we catch those responsible for the crimes."

Mr Hopkins said this kind of serious organised crime was going to have to be the priority in the GMP of the future in which budget cuts mean the force will lose manpower to a historic low of around 5,000 uniformed officers.

He said: "I'm not saying it's the end of the 'bobby on the beat'. GMP will continue to patrol areas where there is most need but you don't catch people committing cyber crime, distributing abuse images of children, burglaries, and serious organised crime by randomly patrolling the streets.

"We're always going to respond to an emergency where someone's life is in danger or the offender is still on the scene but if you find your shed's been broken into and you haven't checked your shed for a week there is no point sending an officer screaming round to come and look at it.

"It would be much better using that resource in a different way to tackle some of the issues."

He said he wishes to have a "reasonable conversation" with the public, local council leaders, council chief executives and other public services to help shape the operational decisions he has to take as to how to deploy his officers and use GMP's finances.