CHILDREN as young as seven are regularly falling victim to street attacks and other Crime in Bolton.

And new figures reveal that at least one in four teenagers in the town has been a victim of crime during the last year.

Now volunteers who help the young victims cope with their ordeal have gained funding to offer more help.

Many of the children and teenagers are victims of street attacks and robberies, often for highly-prized items such as mobile phones, bikes and expensive designer trainers. The crimes are often committed by older teenagers.

Kath Bradley, district manager of Bolton Victim Support, believes the figures are just the tip of the iceberg.

A typical victim is one 14-year-old boy who was threatened with violence by an older boy and ordered to hand over his bike. The teenager is very wary of strangers and admits he was very frightened by what happened.

He said: "I didn't want to put up a struggle -- I just wanted to get home. I was convinced he had a knife. Now when I am out and about, I am always looking around."

The problem of young crime victims has been revealed by Bolton Victim Support as part of Victim Support Week. Bolton's figures show a similar picture to many major towns and cities.

Volunteers from the Bolton branch have been visiting local schools to tell young people about the charity's services. As a result, they have realised the problem is much bigger than at first thought.

Mrs Bradley said: "We know there are more victims out there because we have met them. We receive referrals for children as young as seven and eight quite regularly, but the majority of victims are teenage boys.

"When we started working in schools with children, we came across more and more who have had crime committed against them."

Almost half of those who have been victims had been subjected to repeat incidents -- some have reported more than five in the past year. The most common offences reported include violence, assault and theft.

Mrs Bradley said the charity had already visited four schools in Bolton and there were plans for volunteers to go into another three. Victim Support Bolton has received £1,400 from Greater Manchester Police to pay for an intensive course for 34 volunteers on how to deal with young victims of crime.

The Bolton branch is also launching a website later this month aimed at young people. Victim Support can be called on 399736.

Sgt Bill Crittenden of Bolton police said: "Crime against young people is being tackled by Operation Hawk which is aimed at reducing street robbery. We know there are as many young victims of crime as there are young offenders."

For more information about Victim Support call 399736.