TEN incidents of harassment on the social networking website Facebook are reported to police in Bolton every day, it has emerged.

The reports range from trivial disagreements to serious cases of cyber-bullying, police say.

Sometimes the reports are from young people, but often they are from concerned parents.

Police say that the breakdown of relationships is a common cause of complaints, when aggrieved boyfriends or girlfriends decide to take revenge on the internet.

Chief Constable Peter Fahy said the problem was indicative of the changing face of policing.

He said: “About 10 years ago it wasn’t even heard of, but now if someone harasses you or says something on Facebook they report it to us.”

Police in Bolton are working with schools and parents to tackle the issue.

Supt Paul Rumney, who is in charge of Bolton police partnerships with other agencies, said: “If someone reports Facebook harassment to us then it is already being taken seriously. It’s quite often a parent who reports it to us.

“There’s a lot of work being done with schools in terms of education and how young people use Facebook.”

In the most serious cases, police can seize computers to examine them for evidence.

Facebook has 30 million users in the UK and an estimated 120,000 users in Bolton.

Chantelle Rose, the manager of Boltonbased bullying charity Bully Free Zone, said reports of Facebook bullying they receive were often part of a wider issue.

She said: “Young people will come to us because they’ve fallen out with someone at school, but then it’s continued at home via Facebook.”

She added there were steps that could be taken to increase online safety, from reporting offenders to not giving out personal details.

A Facebook spokesman said the organisation had just introduced “social reporting”, which allows young people to quickly ask for help from someone they trust.

He added: “There is no single answer that can eradicate bullying, online or offline, and as our world becomes ever more reliant on digital communications systems, online safety must be a shared responsibly.

“It is only by parents, teachers, charities, law enforcement, web companies, and governments working together that we will be able to educate people, particularly young people, to act safely and smartly online.