Vehicles have been seized after Greater Manchester Police carried out an operation to target ‘high-risk road routes’ which have seen ‘significant collisions’ in Bolton last night.

Drivers on Blackburn Road and Deansgate were under the watch of officers conducting Operation Classify’ – a GMP operation, announced earlier this month, which aims to reduce death and serious injury on the roads of Bolton.

According to GMP, the borough saw 71 serious collisions in 2022, with nine fatalities – with the trend continuing into 2023.

The force says excessive speeding, as well as drink and drug driving, and poor driver standards have been the main key causes of road traffic collisions in the area.

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On X (formerly Twitter), GMP Traffic showed two vehicles it had seized as part of the operation.

On Deansgate, a driver was pulled over for faulty tail lights – but officers were in for a surprise after the driver turned out to have no licence, as well as insurance which police suspect to be fraudulent. The driver was reported to the force’s 'Operation Wolverine' team, which specialises in seizing vehicles.

One provisional driver on Blackburn Road, who was wearing his pyjamas, was pulled over  suspected of having no insurance.

Both drivers had their vehicles seized, with officers joking on social media that they sent the pyjama-wearing driver ‘back to bed’ following the incident.

The Bolton News: This driver in Bolton town centre had no licenceThis driver in Bolton town centre had no licence (Image: GMP)

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Speaking about Operation Classify earlier this month, Inspector Nick Bonson from the Bolton Prevention Hub said: “This has been an ongoing piece of work for us, something that has required a lot of analysing routes and data, which has led us to focus our attention on a number of different routes across the town.

“Although we are not disclosing the routes publicly, you will notice an increased police presence on the roads as we strive to bring the number of serious and fatal collisions down in area.

“The neighbourhood policing team in Bolton are routinely out across the whole district supported by the force’s roads policing unit, however, we are taking a further proactive approach to target drivers that feel they are above the law.

“I would like to thank Bolton Council and Transport for Greater Manchester, both authorities who have worked alongside us in identifying these high-risk routes.

“Please do take care when travelling on any roads throughout Bolton, the whole of Greater Manchester and beyond.

"Let this be a warning, if you are driving dangerously, on your phone behind the wheel or driving under the influence of drink or drugs, we will catch up with you.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk or text or WhatsApp on 07517566383.