FIFTEEN of the borough's "most wanted" criminals have been charged by police and two of them have already been sent to prison following a major police crackdown.

A total of 29 men and women were arrested across Bury in a matter of days as part of a forcewide operation to remove people wanted by the police from the streets.

During the last week officers from Greater Manchester Police have been attempting to arrest more than 800 wanted criminals. As part of Operation Clean Up each sub-division across the force has been gathering intelligence and information about their top 30 prolific criminals since the beginning of February.

During the last ten days, officers in Bury have been hunting and arresting the top targets wanted for offences such as street robbery and burglary.

Within days, two Bury men, aged 22 and 24, were sent to prison for four months each after pleading guilty to a range of offences, including theft, criminal damage and racially aggravated criminal damage at Bury Magistrates Court.

Throughout Greater Manchester a total of 399 "most wanted" have been arrested.

The new boss of Bury police, Chief Superintendent Andy Holt, said: "As the new Divisional Commander at Bury, Operation Clean Up has given me an early opportunity to make a positive impact on the level of crime in the borough".