PROPERTY is being damaged and staff are experiencing abuse at the Market Place, the shopping centre’s manager has revealed.

Nikki Wilson-Cook has said that her shopping centre is being “targeted” by youths in what she has described as an “extremely concerning” situation.

Now she is calling on the Mayor of Greater Manchester to help combat anti-social behaviour in the town centre.

Speaking at the University of Bolton on Thursday, Andy Burnham said he was aware of the situation.

He said: “Without going into all the specifics, I do know there’s a lot of work going on – targeted work, identifying the young people responsible for some of this and then working with youth services, the police and the council.

“My job is putting enough police on the streets to get a better response particularly to issues like anti-social behaviour. I think Greater Manchester Police (GMP) would say, with the cuts that they faced, they haven’t been able to follow up every instance in recent times.”

The Metro Mayor made the comments ahead of a meeting at Bolton Town Hall yesterday in which his part of the council tax bill for next year was set.

Taxpayers living in Band D properties will contribute £10 more a year towards policing in Greater Manchester from April.

Deputy chief constable Paul Hilling explained the challenges the police service is facing.

He said: “I don’t use the cuts as an excuse but bottom line is we have lost 2,000 officers in recent years. That’s around a quarter of our workforce. Recently, we’ve been able to put some back but the majority of those haven’t been recruited yet or are still in training.

“Whereas 10 years ago they might have been a few officers in Bolton town centre on most days, we can’t do that any more. We’ve got to be much more targeted and work much more smartly.

“We are aware it’s a problem, we are trying to do more with the shopping centre, they must play their part as well, as regards to public levels of security and CCTV. At the end of the day they’ve got responsibilities.

“So we’re doing all we can with the limited resources that we’ve got. But we do need the shopping centre, the council and other partners to work with us to be able to resolve that.”

Deputy mayor Beverley Hughes, responsible for policing and crime, also attended the Mayor’s Question Time and answered the Market Place manager’s question.

She said: “It’s a really annoying and difficult problem very often when sometimes youngsters, sometimes older people, behave really badly in areas whether it’s in your local park or in your town centre.

“I do know in Bolton, as in other districts, there’s a really strong partnership between the local authority, the police and other agencies in the voluntary sector.

“It involves working with schools but it also involves owners of property, whether it’s householders or businesses – they have to be part of that partnership, because you have to strengthen your resilience to that behaviour as much as you can. It isn’t the case that the police can just wing in and solve the problem because it will come back.

“To get a sustainable solution, the police and local authorities need to work together as they are doing and but with the owners of the town centre, with householders if it’s happening in the local area. And that’s what they are doing.

“There are specific operations here in Bolton in relation to shoplifting and burglary of premises in the town centre. Also in relation to personal robberies. So police do identify when specific concentrated action needs to take place. That is happening now in Bolton in response to some of those issues.”

Mrs Wilson-Cook, who chairs the town’s crime and disorder group, said she is “delighted” that the issue is now on the agenda.

She said: “The council is investing in long-term regeneration of the town and this is an important factor in making Bolton an even more desirable place to live and visit.

“It’s great news that there’s a possible increased police presence limiting the activities of a minority of society."