Home Secretary James Cleverly has been in Bury today, Friday, to hear about the challenges the town is facing - including tackling knife crime after a spate of incidents.

Last week there was a triple stabbing near Bury Market, another stabbing in Whitefield as well as other incidents which police believe are linked.

Mr Cleverly met Bury's Chief Superintendent Chris Hill and Bury North MP James Daly at the Peel Monument this morning, as well as the Knife Angel, which is currently in town to discuss the challenges facing policing at the moment.

Chief Supt Hill told Mr Cleverly that the recent knife crime incidents are few and far between and arrests have been made in connection with the crimes.

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He stressed education is needed, not just for criminals, but for parents and carers as many blades used in crimes are kitchen knives, with it hoped that these cases can be prevented going forward.

Mr Cleverly stated the importance of a visible presence of police officers in a town and that it gives reassurance to people when they see officers about.

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Speaking to the Bury Times, Mr Cleverly said: “I’m very conscious that when you’re a government minister, it’s really easy to get stuck in Westminster and I’m absolutely determined to get out and about to make sure that I send the message that the government is for the whole of the UK and not just for the South East.

“I want to make sure that we are learning lessons about frontline policing and proactive policing and hear from the coal face from police officers who are trying to tackle knife crime, which I know is a very high-profile issue at the moment, but this plan was in place before the recent incidents.

“What I want to do, and what I am doing, is making sure I provide the funding to put more frontline police officers on the beat.

“We want to give chief constables the authority to task those officers to do what local communities want them to do and to make sure criminals feel the pressure from those extra police officers and the good people feel the reassurance and that’s what we’re looking to achieve.”