Hollinwood Councillors' support for police measures

From Friday evening until Saturday evening, GMP authorised a section 60 authority in the outline area of Limeside

Following incidents last Thursday (June 22) and Friday (June 23) during which two young boys were believed to have been attacked in the Limeside area, Greater Manchester Police officers were granted extended “stop and search” powers, often referred to as “Section 60” measures.

Local councillors have since expressed their concerns around what appears to be a worrying increase in knife related crime in the area and have been supportive of measures taken by GMP.

Hollinwood Councillor Kamran Ghafoor, who is the Deputy Leader of the Conservatives on Oldham Council, said: “It is vital that we work together as a community to tackle knife crime.

"Education is so important, and our young people need to be made aware of the dangers and consequences of carrying knives on the streets in our town.

"We understand that the Police have a very difficult job to do, and we support them in their efforts to tackle this issue.

"We will make representation to the council to ask for more funding for community safety initiatives to combat this growing problem.”

Fellow Conservative Councillor Abdul Wahid said: “Knife crime is a serious issue that needs to be addressed urgently by the Police and the community - it destroys lives.”

Councillor Muhammad Irfan added: “We need a concentrated multi-agency response to tackle knife crime, including schools, youth groups, GMP, the council and other agencies to address this problem.”

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