AROUND £100,00 of gold was stolen from families in Bolton in a number of raids - and the figure could continue to rise.

As reported, police have been investigating eighteen reports of jewellery theft from homes in the Bolton area that took part in the past four weeks.

In some cases, families have been subjected to unprovoked violent threats, with offenders using weapons such as screwdrivers to threaten the victims.

Now, police have revealed the estimated value of the cash and jewellery that was taken by the raids as in the region of £100,000.

However, as reports are completed into the raids, this figure could rise further.

Police are continuing their investigation and appeal for information into the raids.

The break-ins have all been committed at the homes of Asian families with the specific intent of stealing gold jewellery and cash.

The offenders are gaining access to properties by breaking and entering at the rear of the premises.

Police previously said that in all cases a significant amount of high value jewellery has been stolen and some incidents included cash theft.

So far there has been no reports of injuries in any of the raids.

Police urged people to take certain steps to secure their home and protect themselves from burglaries.

This included keeping jewellery in a safe deposit box at the local bank rather than at your home, or if you would prefer to keep it at home to invest in a good quality safe which complies with the office insurance rating standards and is secured to a wall or to the floor.

Other steps to deter burglars includes double-locking doors and windows, using timer switches on lamps to give the impression somebody is at home or keep a light on in the evening when you leave and to also consider installing alarms and dusk to dawn security lighting or CCTV outside your home.

Detective Inspector John Mulvihill from GMP’s Bolton borough, said: "I want to reassure the community that we are working hard to eradicate these crimes and want to send out a message that we will not allow innocent members of our communities to be terrorised in this way and we will identify those responsible and bring them to justice."

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or 0161 856 5619, quoting incident number 1454 of Saturday 19 August 2017, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.