A CRIME-fighting scheme to secure wheelie bins has helped slash burglaries in a Bolton break-in hot spot.

Since July, more than 200 bins have been chained up in the Tonge Moor area to prevent burglars using them to gain access to property.

Now police figures reveal that a year-on-year comparison for July to October has shown that break-ins in the district - which also includes part of Breightmet's New Lane estate - are down by a quarter.

The bin initiative forms part of a detailed plan for the area to combat house-breakers, with the project recently receiving £174,000 of Home Office cash to boost the anti-crime proposals.

And today officers involved in the scheme welcomed the latest figures but stressed the wheelie bin project was not the root cause of the reduction.

PC Owen Hughes, from the divisional partnership at Astley Bridge police station, said: "The whole approach to the scheme has achieved these results not just the wheelie bin initiative. "But it is still an important part of the scheme because it raises people morale. It shows that things are being done, not just by the police but by every partner involved in this.

"People who are victims of burglaries may think it is the norm but we want to demonstrate to them that it isn't and we will do as much as we can to prevent them."

Under the wheelie bin scheme, officers visit homes which have been targeted by burglars to complete a crime-prevention survey of the house.

Bolton Council's regeneration unit help organise a team of joiners to call at the property to fix security devices which the bin can then be chained to so that criminals cannot climb on to it to gain access.

It costs £18 for every bin to be secured with the specialised fixings and heavy duty chains and locks.

So far 207 bins in the Tonge Moor area have been secured since July.