A RECORD number of people were arrested in Bolton in the last 12 months.

Police officers in the town arrested 13,218 in the 12 months up to October this year - an average of 1,100 a month.

The figure is up nearly 1,500 on the previous year.

Although crime is continuing to fall, the number of people arrested and eventually charged with offences is soaring, says Chief Supt Dave Lea, head of Bolton Police.

He has attributed the high arrest rate to changing in policing and the hard work of all his officers.

Chief Supt Lea said: "We are taking the fight against crime to the doors of criminals.

"We know that a small minority of criminals are responsible for the majority of crimes so we are pro-actively targeting those who bring misery to the streets of Bolton.

"By working with other partners and using intelligence-led policing, we are locking up people faster than ever before.

"The reductions in crime and the increase in the number of detections we have seen in the Bolton area in the last two years is in no doubt attributable to the hard work and dedication shown by Bolton police officers as part of the BSafe partnership.

"Detection rates are also on the up because we have improved our ability to convert our activity into evidence to put before the courts, who are now supporting us with their sentencing.

"From day one, I said that we were taking away the fear of crime from the victim, and transferring it to the criminal. If they commit crime in Bolton, they should fear arrest and an appearance in court.

"We have a message for the criminal, which is, "If you want to commit crime in Bolton, we will be hot on your tail."

Fear of crime is still a huge concern for many members of the public, particularly the elderly.

But the reality is that there were 4,387 fewer victims of crime last year.

A total of 29,660 crimes were recorded between November, 2004 and October, 2005, compared with 34,047 the previous year.

More people are also being brought to justice. The detection rate for the last 12 months stands at 26.73 per cent after a total of 7,944 crimes were "solved.

In real terms, that means that at least 7,944 arrests resulted in someone being charged with an offence. In many cases, more than person was brought before the court in relation to an incidents but it is still classed as one detection.

This compares to the period between November, 2003 and October, 2004, when there were 7,420 crimes detected, a rate of 21.79 per cent.

Last year, as part of a shake-up of of the borough's police service, four new policing areas were created; Bolton Central, Bolton South, Bolton East and Bolton West.

A team of police officers were assigned to work in each district and community beat managers were appointed to work closely with the community.