MORE than 80 "bail bandits" in Bury have been arrested and brought back before the courts to face justice as part of a major crackdown on court dodgers.

During the last two months, Greater Manchester Police (GMP), the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the courts and other criminal justice agencies have been targeting people who have skipped bail and failed to appear at court.

Under an operation codenamed Turn Up, a total of 81 people from Bury have been detained and brought before the courts, while the overall figure for Greater Manchester is 1,006.

The operation has been a concentrated effort from criminal justice agencies to bring more offenders to justice by not only addressing outstanding warrants, but by ensuring that warrants are managed more efficiently in the future.

Although Operation Turn Up has officially ended, police are warning that arrests will still continue and anyone with an outstanding "fail to appear" warrant is being urged to surrender at their local police station. The courts will be advised when a defendant has surrendered of their own accord and this may be taken into consideration when sentencing.

Police are also appealing for members of the public to contact their local police station or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 if they have any information about someone with an outstanding fail to appear warrant.

Assistant Chief Constable for GMP and vice-chairman of the Local Criminal Justice Board, Rob Taylor said: "Operation Turn Up has been a great multi-agency effort that has resulted in more than 1,000 offenders being put back before the courts and made to face justice for their offence.

"We are delighted with the success of the operation. However, I would like to reassure the public that the hard work will continue to ensure not only that those who skip bail do not get away with it, but that they turn up to court in the first place."