Arrests made and illegal good seized in crime crackdown

More than 40 arrests were made and drugs, weapons and illegal tobacco and vapes seized in a large scale crackdown on crime and anti-socal behaviour in Tameside.

Operation Avro, led by Greater Manchester Polie and supported by Tameside Council and other partners, brought in extra resources from across the force to tackle issues of concern to the local community.

The operation, held on 25 September 2025, involved warrants for arrest being executed, road safety and vehicle checks, spot checks on businesses suspected of illegal activity, firework safety checks, community safety information stands, litter picking, flytipping investigations and more.

Council Trading Standards officers, joined by the police, visited eight shops where they had received local intelligence regarding the supply of illicit tobacco. All premises had also sold illicit tobacco to test purchasers in recent weeks.

During this visits, 18,960 illicit cigarettes and 5.15kg of hand rolling tobacco were seized alongside 729 illegal vapes, all with an estimated value of over £17,000. Investigations are ongoing and further action will be taken.

As part of the operation, council officers also made checks for fireworks being stored illegally by unlicensed retailers and environmental health officers checked health and safety compliance or the premises visited.

Waste enforcement, community safety and police officers were joined by pupils from Holy Trinity Primary School and St Peter’s Primary School, local councillors and members of the community to tackle litter and flytipping in the St Peter’s area of Ashton. Four fixed penalty notices were issued for waste offences and accumulations of flytipping were cleared from hotspot areas.

Officers also talked to local residents about any concerns they have and advised about bringing in bins promptly after they are emptied to help prevent them being involved in any anti-social behaviour such as them going missing, getting damaged or being contaminated with other people’s rubbish.

To further support the community safety theme of the day, the council held Storymakers sessions in libraries which focused on calling 999 in an emergency. The sessions were well attended, with 780 children and 156 adults getting involved.

Tameside Council Executive Member for Towns Transport and Connectivity Cllr Stephen Homer, who is responsible for community safety and who took part in the police’s multi-agency briefing and the litter picking with school pupils, said: “This was a really successful day and highlights the impact we can make when we all work together to tackle issues of concern to our local community.

“This kind of work takes place day in day out but the operation helps to put the spotlight on this ongoing work – most of which usually takes place behind the scenes - while also enabling the police to bring in additional resources from across the force to tackle specific issues.

“I was especially heartened to see members of the community and school children getting involved with enthusiasm to help look after their local areas. Thank you to everyone who was involved in the day, your efforts are really appreciated.”