Oldham’s crime rate falls

CRIME fell across Oldham last year despite cuts in the number of police officers — and at a faster rate than across other parts of Greater Manchester.

The total Oldham number of seven major types of crime — including sexual offences, robbery, burglary and car theft — fell by 11 per cent over the year, from 10,463 to 9,288.

The percentage reduction was greater than the 10 per cent fall across the Greater Manchester Police area. Trafford saw the biggest reduction at 16 per cent and Bury and Stockport recorded the lowest at 3 per cent.

Oldham saw bigger reductions than the average across Greater Manchester in robbery (down 23 per cent), burglary (down 18 per cent) and car theft (down 33 per cent).

But the number of sexual offences across Oldham was almost identical: 221 in 2011/12 compared with 220 the year before — despite a seven per cent fall across the GMP area.