Crime may have risen across Greater Manchester by more than a tenth but the latest Bolton statistics do not entirely match that trend

The volume of offences reported to GMP in September, 2015 across the whole conurbation was 14 per cent higher than the same month the previous year.

More up to date local figures only partially bear out the regional figure, however.

Bolton North experienced 1,054 crimes in the whole of November, 2015, the latest month for which complete figures are available.

This is compared to 997 in the same month the previous year and represents an increase of six per cent.

In Bolton Central there were 937 offences in November, 2015 but just 816 in November, 2014.

That equates to a 15 per cent rise, which is more in line with the Greater Manchester picture.

In Bolton South there were 719 offences reported in November, 2015 - a 17 per cent reduction from 867 in November, 2014.

Bolton divisional commander Superintendent Shaun Donnellan said: “Crime at Bolton is less than average due to the fantastic partnership work that takes place with police, council and other key partners.

“Strong inter-faith and inter-community links mean that communities talk to each other and look after each other.

“Good intelligence means that police officers are deployed to areas of likely need before any demand for resources are needed.

“Co-ordinated patrols and the ability to deploy extra force resources such as dogs and mounted mean that many crimes are avoided by our overt presence.”

The trends come as the number of officers has fallen in line with a decrease in the Greater Manchester Police's grant from central Government which will be frozen for the first time in five years from next April.

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said: "We recognise that any rise in crime is going to be concerning to the communities we serve.

"I can say however that we are continuing to change the way we police to help us concentrate on those crimes which pose the greatest risk or harm to the public.

"We are doing this at a time where we are continuing to face some tough resourcing issues that inevitably have an impact on the service we provide.

"Also, while there is a rise in recorded crime we have actually seen a reduction in actual incidents reported to us.

"What this tells us is that part of the rise in crime can be attributed to GMP’s improved compliance with national recording standards which came into force last year.

“Statistics are useful, but what is more important to us is the service we provide to individual victims of crime on a daily basis.”

Greater Manchester’s interim mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd, said: “With reported crime continuing to rise, it’s vital that we make sure resources are available where needed – both to solve crimes and to work with partner agencies to prevent them from happening in the first place."