A police officer in Bolton has said moves to ban hippie crack cannot come soon in enough.

Sergeant Neil Austen was speaking to residents concerned about the use of the drug nitrous oxide.

Currently it is not illegal to possess the drug but it is a crime to sell it for the purposes of inhallation.

Nitrous oxide is included as an anaesthetic in medical and dental contexts and as a gas for whipped cream.

Nitrous oxide is one of the most popular recreational drugs among young people.

Under moves by the Government the drug will be classified and made illegal in a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Children as young as 10 are using the drug in Bolton.

At a Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meeting led by police at St Andrews Church in Over Hulton the issue of cannisters in the area was raised by members of the public.

People who had been on a recent litter pick said they had found a lot of them, with Fletcher Street and the A6 being highlighted as particular bad spots.

Sergeant Austen, from the Rumworth Neighbourhood Team, said he was fully in support of the changes to the law.

He said: “That change cannot come soon enough as far as I am concerned.

“We will be all over enforcement of that.

“Currently we can’t do anything if we see someone with a balloon outside the town centre as they are not breaking the law.”

He added that the UK was following trends seen elsewhere.

He said: “It is coming over from Holland.

“They are 12 to 18 months ahead of us.

“They have started to see a move away from the silver cannisters to bigger ones.

“This is because it is cheaper and also because people tolerance increases pretty quickly so the need to take more to get the same effect.”

Bolton Council previous issued a warning about the health risks of the substance.

In September 2021 a number of large cannisters the size of a fire extinguisher was found in Bradshawgate.

The move to ban the substance was backed by multiple Bolton Councillors earlier this year.

Councillor Ayyub Patel from the Rumworth ward said it would lead to a reduction in antisocial behaviour and council deputy leader Hilary Fairclough said they were a “blight on our towns” and a “massive health issue.”