MP Chris Green has taken concerns about policing levels in his constituency to the Home Secretary.

The Conservative had a meeting with Amber Rudd before Christmas after he was contacted by a number of residents towards the end of 2017.

It also followed discussion on the issue by members of Westhoughton Town Council and members of Blackrod Town Council.

He said: "I have been contacted by an increasing number of residents in Westhoughton with concerns about crime and the situation is the same across Bolton West – I am in the middle of rolling out a crime survey across the constituency to build up a better picture of the situation.

"I am concerned that the Police and Crime Commissioner is not allocating resources as fairly as they should be – how is it fair that I have wards without any police presence whatsoever, and yet in other parts of the Bolton borough there are as many as six or seven frontline police?

"What is going on in the Greater Manchester Mayor’s office? Surely, the key role of the Police is to deter crime in the first place and not pick up the pieces afterwards.

"I have already raised my concerns with the police and with the government, and most recently met with the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to discuss policing in Bolton West in more detail.

"I know that local councillors have also been working hard on this as well."

He said he would be happy to meet up with members of Westhoughton Town Council to discuss the issue.

Members met on Monday an decided to contact Greater Manchester Police and seek a meeting with senior police officers.

It came after they recently had a meeting with local PCs Paul Griffiths and Phil Burrows after residents raised concerns about recent break-ins around the area.

PC Griffiths said the Westhoughton police team had been reduced from four officers and four PCSOs to two officers and three PCSOs in recent years.

And he said being based at Horwich Police Station in Middlebrook since the closure of Westhoughton Police Station meant they were spending less time in the town.