Widespread trouble is not the real truth

THE Police have moved swiftly to refute allegations of widespread anti-social behaviour on the Holts estate.

The front-page Chronicle story on Monday highlighted issues that have plagued certain residents around the Curlew Road area and questioned whether enough as being done to eradicate such problems.

However, following police inquiries into the alleged incidents, one person has received a fixed-penalty notice for wasting police time and inquiries are continuing.

Chronicle Editor David Whaley said: “Clearly there are some incidents — like there are in many areas of the borough — but not of the scale which we were led to believe was the case around Curlew Road.

“We get complaints on a variety of subjects and we feel it is right that we should make sure that the public bodies are held to account.

“However, it is also right that when we report something that turns out not to be a true representation of the facts, we do our best to rectify it.

“The Chronicle has an excellent working relationship with the police in Oldham and there is no way we would have intentionally jeopardised this for the sake of a sensational headline.

“We hope that the police and the Holts community can continue their work-in-progress in making the estate a more desirable place to live.”

Superintendent Gary Simpson, of Oldham Police, said “I would like to reassure residents that anti-social behaviour is a top priority for us, especially at this time of year with the Halloween and Bonfire Night celebrations.

“My officers are aware of the distress that anti-social behaviour can cause, particularly amongst the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

“We have many officers working extra late shifts to provide reassurance to the community. PC Nathan McLean, PCSOs Dave Newell and Matt Birch are the team responsible for the Holts Estate.

“They work closely with our partners at Oldham Borough Council and First Choice Homes.

“The Oldham West Neighbourhood Policing Team have recently undertaken four operations specifically to tackle anti- social behaviour across the area. This will continue throughout the next few weeks and our message is very simple: If you engage in anti-social behaviour you will become the focus of the attention of the police and all our partners and you will face the consequences of your actions.”