A TRANSGENDER councillor and her wife claim to have been the victims of hate crime after a ‘constant onslaught’ of abuse for the past eight months.

Cllr Zoe Kirk-Robinson and her wife Jenny Kirk said they had been targeted by a group of ‘children’ who allegedly shouted phrases including ‘are you a man?’ at the Westhoughton North and Chew Moor representative and Mrs Kirk.

It came to a head on September 6 when someone was captured on a CCTV camera climbing into the back garden of their home in Eldon Street.

And the pair are now considering moving out of their home and have criticised the police after claiming nothing has been done to catch those responsible. Cllr Kirk-Robinson, aged 36, said: “It started eight months ago with a bunch of children following my wife home and throwing abuse at her and it developed into them throwing stones at the house.

“One of them came to the house and climbed into the garden. He looked at the CCTV camera and went away.

“I like this house and this neighbourhood but it does not quite feel like home anymore.”

She went on to say that the police were called that night and informed officers that there was footage of the incident.

But up to a week afterwards, an officer had not been to look at the images.

Mrs Kirk said she had confronted the teenagers who then started to ‘hurl’ abuse at her.

She said: “It is like a constant onslaught and it has been made worse by the police’s lack of enthusiasm when we are trying to get them to do something about it.

“We just get more and more problems. We have been in this house for about six and a half years and it has only been since January that we have been getting this abuse.”

In a statement, a spokesman from Greater Manchester Police confirmed a report had been made to the force on September 6.

The spokesman said: “Police received a report of a hate crime that occurred at a house on Eldon Street, Bolton.

“A group of teenagers climbed the rear fence to gain access to the garden before shouting hateful abuse and fleeing the scene.

“A number of unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the victim in the days following the incident to progress the investigation and enquiries remain ongoing.”

They also said hate incidents ‘will not be tolerated in Greater Manchester’.

Since speaking to The Bolton News, police have visited the couple’s address to study the CCTV footage.

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting incident number 1908 of September 6 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Any incidents of hate crimes should be reported on 101, via Crimestoppers or by going to the True Vision website at report-it.org.uk