Police in plain clothes have used the "element of surprise" to crack down on a range of crimes in Bury town centre.

Officers swapped their uniforms for casualwear over the weekend as part of an operation.

A total of 19 stop searches were carried out and after two knives were seized, a suspect was charged and another person was referred to youth offending teams.

A mixture of five Class A and B drugs have been seized and "multiple youths" have been spoken to regarding anti-social behaviour with one youth taken home to their parents.

Large groups of youths were dispersed by police after fireworks were set off too.

Read more: Police warning after youths throw fireworks outside McDonald's in Bury

A vehicle has been seized as the driver reportedly did not have the correct licence or insurance for it and two stolen bicycles have been recovered.

Read more: Illegal cigarettes and vapes discovered during Heywood store raids

On Sunday morning, a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "Your Bury town centre neighbourhood team have been busy the last two days assisted by the Whitefield neighbourhood team.

"Collectively they’ve conducted a proactive approach to policing within the town centre operating in a plain clothes capacity.

"The element of surprise has been on their side and has resulted in the prevention of knives potentially being used to harm someone, youths smoking or taking drugs and stolen property being recovered to its rightful owner.

"As a neighbourhood team our job is to prevent reoccurring issues from happening to the best of our ability.

"To assist in this we ask that you report any antisocial behaviour, drug use or people who possess knives to us on 101 or Crimestoppers (anonymously on 0800 555 111).

"This is just a snapshot of the work we do daily and will continue to do in order to reduce criminality and anti-social behaviour."

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