A police officer who works on an operation to crack down on knife crime in violent hotspots - including in Bolton - has spoken about the devastating consequences that carrying blades can have.

Sergeant Mohammed Waqas, who is on Greater Manchester Police's Operation Venture team, said that "our communities have been through enough" and that there is "no safe place to stab someone".

He and his colleagues have been deployed in places across the region where knife crime has been a problem 

Sgt Waqas said: “Most of the stab wounds that I’ve seen have been one stab wound.  

“They haven’t been stabbed repeatedly so it’s more likely that the person stabbed them impulsively. 

“Sometimes the offender aims for a certain place on the body where they think they won’t do much damage. 

"But there’s no safe place to stab someone.” 

Sgt Waqas, who has been in the police for almost 10 years, has a stark warning for youngsters thinking about carrying a knife. 

He said: “To any young person who might be carrying a knife I would say very simply: don’t do it, it’s not worth it. 

"If you’re caught carrying a knife, your life could change forever.

"You will be arrested if caught and you’ll then have a criminal record which could stop you from getting the job you want or travelling somewhere. 

"If you carry a knife, you are also more likely to use it or have it be used on you.

"You might be fatally stabbed, or you could end up spending the rest of your life in prison, having killed someone.” 

The police officer has warned anyone using a knife about how easy it is to hit an artery and cause someone to bleed out.

He added that "someone could die as a result" of a stabbing even if the attacker did not mean to kill the victim. 

Sgt Waqas said: "Our communities have been through enough and we need to start taking action because that’s what they want.  

“We need to be robust and we need to do more – and that is exactly what this team is setting out to do working alongside the communities." 

During an OP Venture day of action on Tuesday, January 17, officers patrolled Oldham, Bolton and Harphurhey, making four positive stop searches which lead to the arrest of a man.

A woman was arrested on suspicion of theft and a man was taken into custody after being accused of possession of class B drugs.

Police also arrested a man on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs after 10 snap bags containing heroin and 11 snap bags of crack cocaine were found.