Wera Hobhouse's crime campaign.

8.48.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 1st Oct 2007

Heywood and Middleton Parliamentary Candidate Wera Hobhouse would like to thank the hundreds of local residents who returned our crime petitions. We received hundreds back protesting against the funding crisis at Greater Manchester Police and also against the cuts that have led to a RISE in crime across the Borough. In the last year there has been a reduction of 30 officers across the Borough and 216 across Greater Manchester.

Councillor Wera Hobhouse presenting your petitions to 10, Downing Street with Paul Rowen MP.

At the same time latest statistics released have shown that crime figures are on the up. There were 327 reported robberies between April and December last year, compared with 284 the previous year - a rise of more than 15 per cent. Domestic burglaries rose by 7.4 per cent over the same period, from 1,192 to 1,280.

And there was a 3.8 per cent rise in the number of crimes including domestic burglaries, personal robberies, vehicle crimes, thefts from a person and theft or unauthorised taking of pedal cycles from 5,333 to 5,535.

Middleton Campaigner Rhoda Morley has slammed the figures saying, "This is further proof that you simply cannot trust Labour to keep our Borough safe. The fact they we are losing officers, while crime is going should shame Labour."

Heywood North's Doreen Brophy-Lee said, "We have fought many campaigns this year, this includes opening our Police Stations longer, for more police on our streets with FULL powers of arrest, the fight against the anti-social use of off-road bikes and more. We were delighted to see our Parliamentary Spokesperson - Councillor Wera Hobhouse presented hundreds of our petitions to Number 10 with Paul Rowen MP."