Patrols to be stepped up over the weekend at Wigan trouble spots

There have been extra officers brought in to both Lowton and Golborne the two previous weekends and police chiefs say the strategy has reaped dividends with a drop-off in anti-social behaviour reports.

Mounted patrols have been part of the crime prevention armoury so far and they too will be returning from March 11 to 13.

A spokesperson for GMP Leigh, Atherton and Hindley, said: Your local Neighbourhood Team, supported by other officers, have been working hard to prevent further incidents occurring.

“We’ve seen some positive improvements and a significant reduction in incidents, however we will have additional officers out again this weekend in the hotspot areas to maintain this, and where necessary we will use further dispersal powers.

“In addition to being out there patrolling we’re also conducting enforcement action on a small number of young people who are persistently causing anti-social behaviour and not getting the message that they need to change their behaviour.”

The team is also increasing patrols to combat an increase in Lowton vehicle crimes over the last week.

But the spokesperson also urged vehicle owners to double-check their vehicles are secure, use a steering lock if they have one and try to keep your vehicle keys in a Faraday bag/cage or keep them as far away from the front door as possible to reduce the chance of criminals being able to use the relay method to steal your vehicle if it has a keyless ignition.