Manchester's chief constable has tempered expectations following last week's announcement that parts of 'Counterfeit Street' will face demolition. The Manchester Evening News previously revealed how, under the orders of Chf Con Stephen Watson, plans were being drawn up for the compulsory purchase of buildings along the infamous stretch of Bury New Road in Strangeways.
Those buildings would be closed up, flattened and the land made available for redevelopment, explained Detective Superintendent Neil Blackwood - Greater Manchester Police's officer in charge of Operation Vulcan, which is targeting organised crime on 'Counterfeit Street'.
But in his regular 'hotseat' appearance on BBC Radio Manchester this morning (November 1), Chf Con Watson appeared to back-pedal on the project. He labelled talk of bulldozing buildings as 'media hyperbole' - but then went onto explain how unsafe buildings on the notorious stretch could, in fact, face demolition after all.
