Major anti-crime initiatives like Operation Avro, which saw a policing surge in Bolton on Thursday, must be followed up by increased funding, an MP says.

Operation Avro saw raids carried out all over Bolton by between 80 and 100 police officers drawn in from across Greater Manchester over the course of Thursday.

People were arrested for drugs offences and assault while business behaving illegally were shut down.

Yasmin Qureshi MP, who accompanied officers on some of the raids, said: “I’d like to thank GMP Bolton South for inviting me out as part of their Operation Avro today in my constituency of Bolton South East.

“Operation Avro aims to seek a major crackdown on crime in and around Bolton.

“I was fortunate to see first-hand the hard work that our local police officers do, executing search warrants as well as police raids alongside trading standards.

“I was also fortunate to chat with pupils from Harper Green School in my constituency about knife crime.”

Ms Qureshi joined the operation alongside Bolton North MP Mark Logan and Bolton Council cabinet member for stronger communities Mudasir Dean.

But she warned that actions like these needed to be followed up by more long-term work on police funding and a “serious” look at the adequacy of policing in Bolton, Greater Manchester and elsewhere.

Ms Qureshi said: “With anti-social behaviour on the rise, the crime rate increasing, and police numbers since 2010 down 20,000, the government need to seriously look at police funding and the adequacy of policing up and down our country.”

Operation Avro came following various challenges faced by Greater Manchester Police in recent years which culminated in the force being placed in special measures in December 2020 for failing to record around 80,000 crimes.

The force was again warned about its response to vulnerable victims in particular in September last year.

This year, Operation Avro has covered each of the city region’s boroughs in turn with Bolton selected in the last week of June which senior officers will “take the fight to the criminal” and help law abiding people feel safe.