Police issue warning to city centre clubbers and pubgoers

A warning has been issued following a surge in criminals targeting Manchester’s clubbers and pubgoers. Greater Manchester Police says it has seen an increase in punters being targeted by thieves at clubs and pubs in the city centre.

Officers believe the culprits are targeting people when they are intoxicated. People are being urged to ‘remain vigilant’ while enjoying themselves at venues in the city centre – while GMP says officers are working to tackle the problem.

In a post on GMP’s Bee in the Loop service, a force spokesperson said: “We are seeing a recent increase in theft from person offences within our pubs and clubs in the city centre. We believe offenders are taking advantage of customers when intoxicated, especially with bags and personal belongings left unattended.

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“Remain vigilant to these offenders and always keep valuables with you, taking care to remove mobile phones from locations that can be easily taken such as back pockets. Our officers are robustly targeting these offenders with a range of tactics such as location sweeps and stop search.

“If you see any suspicious behaviour, please report this to GMP straight away, the quickest way to let us know is via live chat. A reminder that you may not always see the presence of our officers as we utilise plain clothes deployments to tackle the issue.”