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Blackpool named 'most violent' town
BLACKPOOL has been named as the violent crime capital of the North West.
The latest figures, released by the Home Office, show there were more violent crimes, such as assaults and stabbings, in the resort than Manchester, Liverpool and Salford.
A crime map, produced by the Home Office, reveals there were 361 violent crimes in Blackpool in August, compared to 350 in Salford, 208 in Liverpool and 184 in Manchester city centres.
Police bosses in the town blame the huge number of visitors to the resort.
Supt Richard Bayley, chief of operations at Blackpool Police, said: "In Blackpool we always have a seasonal variation which sees an increase in crime figures.
"We get around 11 million visitors to the resort every summer and that is bound to have an impact, although visitors are a positive thing and the lifeblood of the town, so we want them to keep coming.
"There is always a context to figures like this and what they don't show is the work being done by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership in order to bring down violent crime."
There were 13 fewer incidents of violent crime in Blackpool compared to the same period in 2008, although it has increased by almost nine per cent in the year to date.
Supt Bayley said: "The figures show what they show and we are continuing to work hard to reduce them.
"Since 2004, violent crime in Blackpool is down 22 per cent with 1,400 less incidents reported in the last 12 months to those in 2004."
For the full story, see Saturday's Gazette.
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Weather for Blackpool
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: 2 C to 3 C
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