SEVEN people have been arrested by police probing a major Bolton credit card and cheque book fraud.

Police believe a major criminal team - based in the Halliwell and Bradshaw areas of the town - has now been smashed.

The arrests follow an investigation into the use of stolen cards and cheque books. More arrests are expected.

So far the gang has been linked to up to 100 separate crimes involving many thousands of pounds. Three quarters of the crimes have been committed in Bolton with others in Manchester and Bury.

Of the seven arrests two women have been charged with conspiring to handle stolen property and deception charges.

They will appear before Bolton magistrates later this month. Five others have been released on police bail.

The investigation involved uniform officers based at Astley Bridge Police Station.

A police spokesman said the operation started with the investigation of a single crime which then snowballed.

The arrests come at a time when credit card fraud is regarded as Bolton's fastest growing crimes.

Police believe criminals are annually defrauding banks of hundreds of thousands of pounds in the Bolton area by the theft and "cloning" of credit cards.

The crime is one of the hardest for the police to detect. Once a card is cloned it can be passed from one criminal to another. Cardholders only become aware of the fraud when their bank statements drop through the letterbox. Police involved in the operation raided a home in Halliwell last weekend and recovered 12 stolen cheque books and seven driving licences.

Bolton crime prevention officers are urging cardholders to help combat credit card fraud by concealing their cards in safe places to prevent them from being stolen.

They also advise cardholders - when paying for items in shops and petrol stations - not to let the cards out of their sight to prevent them from being cloned.

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