YOUNG people will be banned from gathering in Horwich after a spate of violence in the town under tough new police measures.

The dispersal order comes as officers were confronted by a large gang over the weekend while dealing with an incident in the town.

Police have put in the order from Friday to Sunday to cover the whole of the town.

Officers say the banning order is in response to community concerns around groups of young people gathering and "engaging in violent activity".

A dispersal order was enforced at the end of February in Westhoughton over a weekend following a stabbing .

The drastic measure in which police can order people to leave the area is also designed to reduce anti-social behaviour in Horwich.

The order for Horwich will come into effect from Friday at 8pm, and remain in place until Sunday at 8pm, and will cover the town in its entirety. 

Inspector David Johnston, from GMP's Bolton district, said: “I have been extremely concerned about an emerging problem of anti-social behaviour in the area which is fuelled mainly by large groups of young people gathering in Horwich Town Centre causing issues for local businesses, anti-social behaviour in Station Park disrupting the local community, and over this last weekend a large group of youths confronted officers whilst they were dealing with an incident in the town centre.

"This is unacceptable and clearly needs dealing with now to prevent such levels of disorder and before someone sustains a serious injury.

"Therefore, I have authorised the dispersal order for this weekend and we will have additional officers in the area to deter such behaviour and educate people. The last resort will be the use of the dispersal power, but if it is needed we will use it robustly.

"I would please ask parents to make sure that they know where their children are and ensure that they are not part of these groups who are in the minority and ruining our community.”

The order has been granted under Section 34 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and allows for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and police officers to direct a person to leave the area specified within the order if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that their behaviour has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to members of the public.

Police have been carrying out patrols in Horwich in recent weeks to crackdown on anti-social behaviour.


Called Operation Arden, police along with Specials have been patrolling areas where young people congregate and cause annoyance.