In the shadow of Sir Robert Peel's statue, hundreds of police officers are preparing to 'take the baddies off the streets' of Bury. It's just turned 6.30am but already a huge operation targeting criminals across the borough is under way.
Over the course of today, dozens of arrests will be made as doors are smashed in and a huge haul of drugs and weapons seized as part of Operation Avro. With 'the father of modern policing' looming over him, Chief Superintendent Chris Hill addresses the neatly assembled lines of officers opposite Bury Parish Church.
Invoking the words of Bury's most famous son, he reminds those gathered that 'the police are the public, and the public are the police'. "That's why we get out of bed in the morning," he adds.
