A teenager is among four people who have been arrested after police in Bolton conducted patrols to “deter serious violence from streets” this past weekend.
As part of Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) ongoing ‘Operation Venture’ – which was set up back in 2022 to tackle violent crime and serious criminality across Greater Manchester – officers were deployed to Bolton this past Saturday (29 April), and spotted a “suspicious car” parked up on Chorley Road while they were doing their rounds.
According to GMP, the officers decided to act on their suspicions and initially approached to search the car and the occupants under the misuse of drugs act, before further searches led to the seizure of “a significant amount” of snap bags containing what is believed to be cocaine and around £1,000 in cash.
On top of this, another vehicle was stopped a short time later on Victory Street in a different area of Bolton, and following searches, three sealed packages were found in the boot.
The sealed packages were believed to be of class A drugs around 10 kilos in weight, according to GMP – with an estimated street value of £1 million pounds.
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After the day of targeted searches, in the end, four men Four men between the ages of 16 and 49 were arrested on suspicion of Possession with Intent to Supply, GMP has confirmed, and they were each taken into custody ahead of being questioned by officers.
Speaking on the success of Operation Venture in Bolton so far, Chief Inspector Justine Topping from GMP’s Bolton District said: “Having additional resources available to deploy through Operation Venture means that we can tackle serious crimes robustly to make Bolton a safer place to live and work.
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“The action highlights our endeavour to take illegal supply from our streets.
“Officers from Operation Venture are out and about every night working hard and patrolling hotspot areas to keep communities across Greater Manchester safe, so if you see our officers out and about, you can speak to them about any concerns you might have.
“We all have a part to play in fighting, preventing and reducing crime.”
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Victory Street in Bolton / Credit: Google Maps
Greater Manchester Police is also encouraging anyone with any information about crime in their area to report it, no matter how big or small.
This can be done through GMP’s LiveChat facility at gmp.police.uk, or alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, while 11-17 year olds can pass on information anonymously through the dedicated platform Fearless.org.
“In an emergency, always dial 999,” GMP concludes.
Featured Image – GMP
Bolton
Ian Evatt responds to negative fan chants after Bolton’s 5-0 thrashing against Stockport County
Danny Jones
Bolton manager Ian Evatt has hit back at his own club’s fans after the Trotters who travelled to Edgeley Park to witness their hefty defeat against Stockport County sang multiple negative chants.
Evatt’s men were on the receiving of a 5-0 thrashing against the Hatters in the League One fixture on Saturday, conceding four goals in the second half and with three of those coming with just 15 minutes of each other.
Wanderers‘ results have been very up and down of late, with the Greater Manchester clash now leaving them sat in 10th with five losses to their name from 14 games.
However, Evatt was defiant in one post-match interview with BBC Sport in which he tried to keep things in perspective and questioned the behaviour of the away supporters who voiced their criticism both during and after the game.
🗣️ "Singing about the football that we play, we've had a lot of success over five years, so I find that a little bit strange"
As you can hear from this brief clip alone, the 42-year-old former player-turned-coach clearly believes that the fan reaction was misjudged and unfair given what he sees as some relative success since he arrived at the club back in 2020.
Self-deprecating choruses of “you’re getting sacked in the morning”, “we’re f***ing sh**’ and even “we should have gone Christmas shopping” rang out around the crowd according to those who attended the drubbing inside Stockport’s stadium – a club which in contrast has continued to build year on year.
Bolton were knocked out of the FA Cup first round in their previous match against Walsall and were even beaten by Aston Villa’s under-21s team in the group stages of the EFL Trophy – incidentally, the last piece of silverware they won in April last year and something Evatt is keen to remind them of.
Nevertheless, his response to the away support making their feelings known hasn’t gone down particularly well either, with plenty of the opinion that it is Evatt who is in need of a reality check and that there hasn’t been enough progress in the last couple of years.
Like countless other comments, online fan page ‘Everything Bolton Wanderers’ simply wrote “Papa John’s Trophy and now 10th in L1, isn’t success to me” and while players have come out to shoulder the responsibility, the pressure continues to mount.
Yes, the players didn’t perform at all well today, George. But we can see the tactics are totally screwing us. Fair play for doing this, but we all know about the elephant in the room….
We had a five year plan to be back in champ. We are not! We struggled through league 2 and have not set league one on fire. Last season and the one prior we cocked up playoffs in poor leagues. This year after spending a decent amount we look awful
Many have already made it clear that they now believe the Coventry-born coach should be sacked and that the project he began almost half a decade ago is now coming to an end.
Evatt has become an increasingly divisive figure around the club of late too – having most notably been charged with misconduct by the FA for a confrontation with a Shrewsbury player earlier this season – and it’s by no means the first time Bolton fans have aired their grievances via chants inside the ground.
There’s still a lot of football to be played yet but it seems he has some way to regain faith among much of the fan base. Find his full post-match interview HERE.
What do you think, Bolton fans – do you want to stick with him or is it time to go? You can watch the highlights for what proved to be a great day for County fans down below.
Police urgently appeal after three-car crash in Bolton leaves girl, 6, with ‘life threatening’ injuries
Emily Sergeant
An urgent appeal has been issued following a serious collision involving several vehicles in Bolton over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that, at 10:30pm this past Saturday night (9 November), officers were called to reports of a serious collision between three cars on the busy thoroughfare of Chorley Old Road in Bolton.
According to police, it’s believed that one of the cars involved in the incident was travelling in an easterly direction along Chorley Old Road, with the second car exiting Avenue Street onto Chorley Old Road.
The first car then crossed onto the opposing side of the carriageway, and proceeded to collide with the third car involved.
#APPEAL | Police appeal for information following a serious collision on Chorley Old Rd at 10:30pm last night.
Sadly, 3 people were taken to hospital for further treatment. The injuries of a six-year-old girl are believed to be life threatening.
Sadly, three people from the third car were taken to hospital for further treatment, GMP confirmed, and a six-year-old girl sustained injuries that, at this time, are believed to be “life threatening”.
Following the incident, police are now urgently appealing to the public.
The junction of Avenue Street onto Chorley Old Road, where the collision occurred / Credit: Google Maps
GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are in the process of following several lines of enquiry, but in the meantime are appealing for witnesses, and anyone who may have information regarding the incident, to come forward and assist.
“This includes anyone with relevant dashcam, CCTV, mobile, or doorbell footage from the area and captures any of the incident,” GMO said in its public appeal.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd May 2023 
