MORE police officers will walk the Bolton beat in the coming weeks as a recruitment drive kicks in in the battle against Crime.

Up to 50 extra officers are set to join the Bolton policing division over the next three years, following an injection of cash.

The added manpower will be in addition to the replacement of officers who leave or retire from the force.

Now the first batch of new bobbies are set to join their colleagues in the town after completing a 15-week training course at the Bruche Training Centre in Warrington.

And Chief Supt Mel Pelham, divisional commander for Bolton, stressed the new recruits would boost patrols around the town.

He added: "I am delighted that new officers are coming on stream to boost the number of operational staff working in our area.

"Local people will see more uniformed patrols as a direct result of this recruitment drive which will lead to an improved service to members of our local communities."

Leap

The boost for Bolton bobbies' manpower comes a day after Home Secretary Jack Straw revealed that nationally there had been a huge leap in numbers of new recruits.

Home Office figures for the past year show that more than 7,000 people had ebrolled on training schemes, although numbers are still below those when the Government came to power in 1997.

Many of the new Bolton officers have been recruited as a result of the Government's Crime Fighting Fund which aims to see an increase of nearly 600 officers across the GMP region by 2003.

So far this year 195 new officers have been trained as new GMP bobbies.

The Bolton contingent will provide a significant increase in manpower levels at the town's two police sub-divisions, with 248 PCs currently stationed at Bolton Central and 192 at Astley Bridge. Introduction of the new recruits comes just weeks after the BEN revealed that outline planning approval had also been submitted for conbstruction of a new Bolton policing HQ on the former Burnden site, off Manchester Road.