A BOLTON minister told a national church conference in Norwich that his home had been burgled twice in the last 12 months.

Rev Tony McNeile, minister of Bank Street Chapel, Bolton, spoke to delegates at the Central Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches about the burglaries during a debate on a call for less imprisonment of young offenders.

And he described how the postal district BL1 was classed by insurance companies as the same risk as Liverpool 8, "because our homes are constantly burgled, especially by young people".

He added: "I was lucky that my goods were recovered within 24 hours, but I know members of my chapel have had really unhappy experiences."

The conference heard how people resented schemes that allowed young offenders to avoid imprisonment, but that there had to be a balance between prevention and punishment.

Delegates agreed to call for new schemes and finance to prevent crime rather than build more costly secure training centres.

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