THE people behind an award-winning crime-fighting initiative joined residents to celebrate scooping a national accolade.

The Bolton Be Safe Strategic Partnership won the prestigious Tilley Award for Safer Communities.

The £10,000 prize will be used to promote the Be Safe partnership by sharing its expertise and good practice nationally and internationally.

Bolton will be representing the UK at the international Goldstein Awards which will be held in Seattle, USA this week.

Chief Supt Dave Lea, Chairman of Be Safe, said: “This is the third consecutive award that the partnership has won and it’s a well-deserved accolade for the approach that we have championed in Bolton over the past five years.”

Be Safe is made up of representatives from the police, council, fire service and other organisations. It is behind initiatives which have led to a 13 per cent drop in instances of criminal damage.

One of the areas targeted by the scheme is Hall i’th’ Wood where there has been a 67 per cent reduction in criminal damage and a 41 per cent drop in anti-social behaviour since 2006.

Other crimes including common assault, theft from vehicles, domestic burglary and robbery have also seen a dramatic drop.