COUNCILLORS, town hall officials and police met the public this week to discuss the problems on Radcliffe's Bolton Road estate.

A special meeting called onm Monday, November 10, by the estate's Tenants and Residents Association let them raise their concerns about such topics as prostitution, drug-dealing, rising crime and badly-cut grass verges. Mrs Muriel Waddington, secretary of the association, said afterwards that unrest had been growing on the estate recently, with a catalogue of concerns.

But she said residents were pleased that the council and police had taken the time to listen.

"We are going to have another meeting in six months to see how things have progressed," she said.

"But we were generally pleased with the fact that our concerns were noted, and people said they were going to look at the problems we raised."

About 70 people packed into the hall at Radcliffe County Junior School for the meeting, chaired by Radcliffe North councillor Tim Chamberlain.

Mrs Waddington said a range of issues had been brought up at the residents' meetings. "People are worried by a number of things, such as nuisance neighbours, youths causing annoyance, children causing problems, and the upkeep of the estate.

"We have also had reports of prostitution and drug-dealing, but from what we were told on Monday it would seem that steps are being taken to tackle those problems."

Coun Chamberlain said: "The meeting was called because residents were highlighting a variety of issues which were affecting the quality of life on the estate."

Fellow Radcliffe North councillor Barry Briggs said it was important that the council listened to the residents.

"It is the first time that we have actually had some money to spend on the estates, with the new Government allowing us to spend funds," he said.

"We need to know what people's priorities are."

Inspector Nigel Bonson, head of the Radcliffe Township Police, said he was happy to listen to what people had to say.

"We are believers in policing by consent and it is important for us to listen to the public and have the chance to explain our views to them," he said.

Insp Bonson said he was not aware of any particular problems with prostitution in the area, especially on the streets, and that Radcliffe police had been targeting drug-dealing in recent weeks.

"We have made a number of arrests throughout the town for possession of drugs and possession with intent to supply," he said.

"And if people have any information about drugs or prostitution then they should tell us, either in person or anonymously.

"We will always act on information received."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.