With the clocks changing on Sunday 31 October, Greater Manchester Police has launched a dedicated burglary operation to 'reinforce its commitment' to tackling the crime.

The clocks changing marks the start of darker nights for neighbourhoods across the force and this can mean an increase in burglaries as homes and businesses are left in darkness.

Following the announcement that GMP is part of the government burglary initiative which will see every residential and commercial burglary attended by a police officer, Operation Castle was launched.

Operation Castle, which has been in place for a number of weeks, has already seen results across districts with a number of offenders arrested and residents/ business owners given crime prevention advice to prevent repeat incidents together with dedicated burglary cars across districts to support communities.

Superintendent Dave Pester, GMP's force tactical lead for Operation Castle, said: "We know that clocks going back gives burglars more opportunity to commit burglaries during the hours of darkness and we'd like to reassure residents that we want to prevent burglaries happening in the first place however when a burglary does happen, we will attend wherever possible.

"Burglary is one of the most intrusive forms of crime a person can experience - whether it's your home, your school, or the business you've created. This is why Operation Castle has been developed and I'd like to reinforce our commitment to deploying a police officer to every burglary - whether that is residential or elsewhere in the community.

"This new renewed commitment for GMP means that we will actively be targetting burglary offenders, arresting them and bringing them to justice because we know the misery they can cause to our communities.

"For every burglary reported to ourselves, we are prepared to take robust action to fight this high impact crime and every report will be investigated - utilising a full range of assets from across the force including from our forensic teams to identify offenders where possible and delivering support crime prevention advice as well as victim support.

"Anyone with information that will help us to bring burglars and handlers of stolen goods to justice is encouraged to contact ourselves either via the LiveChat or reporting function on our website or by calling 101. You can also pass on information anonymously through CrimeStoppers by calling 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 in an emergency."

Crime prevention advice is available on the GMP website here - https://www.gmp.police.uk/police-forces/greater-manchester-police/areas/greater-manchester-force-content/c/campaigns/2021/operation-castle2/