A man has been arrested after two police officers were assaulted breaking up an illegal gathering in Bolton.
At around 4:40pm on Monday police were called to an address in Wigan Road, Bolton, near Deane Bakery, following reports of a large illegal gathering taking place.
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Heaton and Lostock councillor Andy Morgan reported that 10 police cars were seen at the time to break up the gathering.
Officers arrived a found a large number of people from different households at the address in breach of current coronavirus restrictions.
As police attempted to disperse the gathering and issue penalty notices they were met with hostility with two officers were subsequently assaulted.
One officer was grabbed and dragged to the ground and another female officer was burnt with a cigarette after coming to the aid of her colleague.
A 60-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of two counts of assault of an emergency worker but has since been released under investigation.
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13 fixed penalty notices have been issued so far to those in attendance and a closure notice was issued for the premise.
Chief Inspector Stuart Maley-Jones, of GMP's Bolton division, said: "This was a blatant breach of Covid legislation and it's shocking that two of our officers have been assaulted whilst responding to this incident.
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"This behaviour is completely unacceptable. Our officers are doing their very best to maintain public safety in the midst of a pandemic and should not have to be fearful of assault whilst carrying out their duties.
"I would like to remind the public of the importance of adhering to the regulations. We can now see a light at the end of the tunnel, but to reach that light we must do everything we can to reduce the number of virus transmissions and help keep our community safe and protected."
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