A BOLTON MP has slammed the government for a 25 percent fall in the number of local police officers and a rise in violent crime.

Sir David Crausby put his name to a Parliamentary motion which notes that Britain is experiencing “sharply rising violent crime, particularly knife crime”.

The Bolton North East representative said his constituents are becoming “increasingly concerned about crime”, and pointed to “particularly worrying” violent incidents in which the police were not able to attend after receiving a report.

Recent police figures show a gradual increase in the number of violent and sexual offences reported in Bolton throughout 2018, with 924 instances in January rising to 1,195 by July.

Speaking to The Bolton News Mr Crausby referred to calls from senior GMP officers in 2010, suggesting that the force needed to employ a further 2,000 officers on top of the 8,000 that were working at the time.

Rather than seeing this increase, the number of officers actually fell by around 2,000 in the following years.

He said. “There were 8,000 police officers in Greater Manchester and the Chief Superintendent at the time wanted to reach 10,000.

"He argued that that is what he needed to do the job properly and it’s actually reduced to 6,000.

“It’s a 25 percent reduction but you could argue that it’s closer to a 40 percent reduction on what he should have had. That’s why people are just not seeing police officers on the street any more.”

Adding: “I’m not sure the rise in violent crime is a direct result or even the only result of this but I do think it contributes to it.

“Whether it’s a direct result or not people need to be protected and a lack of protection is a definite result of the fall in numbers.

“What I cannot understand is how it has reached a point where police cannot attend violent crime incidents, it’s a problem which goes to the core of the protection of the British public.”

In response to Mr Crausby's complaints, Home Office, which is responsible for police funding, said Greater Manchester will receive a cash boost this year.

In a statement, a spokesman for the department said: “We take the recent rises in violent crime and its devastating consequences very seriously and we are tackling it through our Serious Violence Strategy.

"Police are a vital part of this effort, which is why there is £1bn more of public money going into policing than three years ago and why the Home Secretary has been clear that he will prioritise police funding.

“Greater Manchester Police is receiving £556m in direct resource funding in 2018-19, including council tax precept – a cash increase of £10.7million compared with 2017/18.”

Chancellor Philip Hammond has also said that the government will be reviewing police spending power ahead of setting out the police funding settlement for 2019-20 to Parliament in the coming months.