AN online meeting to discuss law and order proved to be a success.

Last Thursday evening, people living in Prestwich, Whitefield, Radcliffe and Unsworth were invited to ask police officers questions about crime and policing using social media.

There were queries about anti-social schoolchildren harassing a woman on a bus, protecting the property of local businesses, and warding off criminals over the winter months.

Bury South neighbourhood policing team inspector Ben Cottam said he was satisfied with how the Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting was received.

He said: "The team fielded a variety of questions via Twitter and Facebook.

"The meetings are something that we're looking to do regularly with a focus on a different Bury South area each time.

"They will be a way for us to engage with the community in a different way, one that's more in keeping with how most people communicate these days.

"I really do hope that the online PACT meetings will enable us to have contact with, and take questions from, local people that may not ordinarily consider coming to a community meeting.

"So to those of you who may have had a question or query that you've never got around to asking, this is a convenient way to get a quick and direct answer."

The next face-to-face PACT meeting takes place at the Longfield Suite in Prestwich at 5.30pm on November 12.

Officers will give an update on how they have been tackling complaints made at the September meeting about off-road motorcyclists, drug dealing and illegal parking in Prestwich.