Knife arrest as police detain three at Bury Interchange

Police worked in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester as part of the Greater Manchester TravelSafe Partnership as part of a focus to fight criminality and to make the Bee Network a ‘safe and convenient way’ to travel, GMP said.

As a result, two men and one woman were arrested for offences.

One man was found in possession of a ‘bladed article’, while another was a man wanted for failing to comply with a court order.

A woman was also arrested for theft, Greater Manchester Police said.

The TravelSafe Partnership, which is led by Transport for Greater Manchester, GMP, and a number of transport operators, aims to keep users of public transport safe, as well as prevent and deal with crime, anti-social behaviour, and fare evasion.

Police and TfGM officers worked together as part of the Greater Manchester TravelSafe Partnership (Image: TfGM)

Last year, Greater Manchester’s transport commissioner said the partnership would make safety its ‘top priority’ following a number of knife-related incidents, including a bus driver being threatened in Bury.

It came after Greater Manchester’s transport network became GMP’s ‘11th district’ under plans to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, as part of a raft of measures to create Mayor Andy Burnham’s Bee Network transport system, which aims to integrate transport in a ‘London-style’ system.

This week, tougher laws came into force as part of an effort to tackle knife crime throughout the country, with ‘zombie-style’ knives, swords, and machetes outlawed.

Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in 2023 the three types of weapons were mentioned in more than 14,000 crimes recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales.

In 2019, there were 7,159 offences recorded as involving the large blades, which rose to 14,195 in 2023.

Nearly 10,000 of the offences recorded in 2023 involved machetes, double the number from five years before, the broadcaster reported.