A Bolton police chief has told how officers were working to cut the 'head off the snake" as officers tackle drug dealing in the borough.

And Detective Sergeant Craig Wallace urged people to continue to report drug dealing adding that even if people do not hear back it does not mean that no action has been taken.

He told residents at the recent Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting in Farnworth that police were committed to catching drug dealers higher up the chain.

DS Wallace said a 'lot of work going on' relating to drug dealing in Bolton.

He said: “If one person tells he police that in the last two days a car has pulled up, people run up to it and they look like class A drug users.

“You can say to the police I want to make a report, what I have just seen at this time, it was a BMW with a registration plate, I couldn’t see the driver, I think there was an exchange.

"That information will go to intelligence.

“It will help us to build up an intelligence picture."

He added: “Bolton does have a team looking at organised crime groups.

“Your evidence will have told us something has happened.

“You can’t say it is a drug deal even though it obviously is.

“You don’t know what has been exchanged, it might have looked like heroin or it might have looked like cannabis.

“We can put the vehicles on an ANPR, we can make patrols aware.

“There is a lot of work going on in respect of drugs in Bolton.”

He added: “We went to stop those persons employing vulnerable members of the public to sell drugs.

“If you cut the head of the snake it dies.

“Other people may come into the area and we start this around about again.”

He urged people to make reports using 101, Crimestoppers or to report it online.