New roads policing unit in Bury to cover local roads and motorways in Rochdale

A new roads policing unit covering local roads and motorways in Bury, Rochdale and Bolton has opened in Whitefield in Bury.

The Whitefield unit is the third roads policing unit to open in Greater Manchester, following similar operating sites at Eccles Police Station and Ashton Police Station.

Whitefield Roads Policing Unit will house an inspector, five sergeants and 35 constables from the three boroughs, and will provide better coverage in the north of the region through local roads and motorways.

Chief constable Stephen Watson said: “We're really pleased to announce that, whereas Whitefield for many years has been somewhat dormant, we are breathing new life into this police station.

“We are, as part and parcel of the doubling of our road policing assets, basing afresh here, one inspector, five sergeants and 35 constables.

“This comprises the northern extremity of our roads policing enterprise. What the local public will of course see is our officers coming and going 24/7. You'll see a lot more in the way of police presence in the vicinity and you will see this police station once again being used as a practical operational base.

“What is really important is that a resurgent GMP being ever active in targeting criminality on behalf of the public that we serve is really, really obvious in what we're announcing today.

“I know that this will be popular with the people who live near to this police station but really importantly it's popular with our officers too because they are better enabled as a result to get stuck into the fight into criminality.”

 

 

Chief superintendent and district commander for Bury, Chris Hill said: “The roads policing unit will reinforce efforts to reduce the number of serious and fatal collision – as well as targeting offenders who use our roads to commit crime. 

“We have listened to the concerns of residents and what they would like to see from GMP, not just here in Bury, but in Bolton and Rochdale as well. Having this base that will cover all three of those districts as well as the city of Manchester will be a game changer for the public and the force as a whole.

“There has been a significant amount of investment in the roads policing unit which has seen the number of officers almost double, with more than 40 officers being relocated to Bury.”