TOWN hall bosses have set up a hot-line for the public to "shop" thieves who are ripping up historic paving stones around Bolton.

Council engineers have been forced to spend several thousand pounds already this year on filling in holes left by the pavement plunderers.

And now they have decided to act by urging the public to help them combat the escalataing problem.

As reported in the BEN, angry shop keepers in the Chorley Street and St George's Road area have appealed for information after a series of late night raids on historic flag stones outside their businesses.

They urged people to keep on the alert in a bid to stop the gangs ripping up the slate style flags from the pavements.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "The disappearance of these flag stones does seem to be a growing problem.

"We have had to spend several thousand pounds this year on sending out crews to fill in the holes that are left behind with tarmac. If anyone does see anything suspicious or has any information we would urge them to contact us."

The council environmental management team are particularly keen to gather details on the number plates of any suspcious vehicles which could be involved in stealing the stones so that they can compile a dossier of information to hand over to police. The spokesman added: "If somebody catches someone in the act they should not approach them but call the police or pass the information on to us."

Paving stones on all adopted roads are council property and the council has a duty to keep them in good condition.

Filling the holes with tarmac is seen as a temporary measure while engineers review if it is possible to replace them with flag stones which match those in the area.

The environmental management hot-line is 01204 336600.