Police have welcomed a fall in vehicle crime across Greater Manchester with more arrests being made.

Figures show there were 12,365 crimes in the past year compared to 13,387 in the previous 12 months.

The numbers are a fall of 7.6 per cent.

Over this period there were 208 arrests and 105 people charged.

In the previous year there were 170 arrests and 77 people charged.

Police in the north of Bolton said earlier this year that vehicle crime was the “number one priority.”

After a number of arrests led officers to believe that they were beginning to get on top of the issue.

However in August concerns were raised after a locked vehicle was stolen in seconds from outside a home on Lever Edge Lane, Great Lever.

Footage showed two men approaching the vehicle and managing to gain entry to it before leaving with it.

The owner had locked the Range Rover and taken the keys inside with him.

Superintendent Ian Jones, force vehicle crime lead for Greater Manchester Police (GMP), welcomed the reduction in vehicle crime.

He said: “We use a range of tactics to combat vehicle crime and those methods are now being shared with other forces across the UK.

"Tactics include high-visibility patrols, targeted arrest warrants and offender management to reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

“Operation Acquire is an ongoing operation that uses all of GMP's resources and that of our partners to fight all areas of neighbourhood crime including vehicle crime - we anticipate this will continue to reduce offences while making more arrests.

“Acquire is GMP’s force wide initiative that sees intensified action across a month with extra resources deployed across the force to target and arrest criminals suspected of committing neighbourhood offences.

"We also promote the use of partners and volunteer groups, such as Neighbourhood Watch, to provide the information and intelligence to allow us to bring those who are damaging our communities to justice.”