RESIDENTS in Radcliffe and Ainsworth have been left out in the cold by police chiefs.

Both towns were inadvertently excluded from a consultation exercise launched by the Greater Manchester Police Authority in a bid to promote the revamped Police Community Consultative Group (PCCG) meetings.

Now the former chairman of the Bury South PCCG, Mr Sam Cohen, has slammed the GMPA for meddling with a winning formula.

He said: "I was not happy with the authority reducing the number of PCCGs in the borough from 20 to just five.

"Five meetings would not afford residents throughout the borough the chance to air their views on problems or issues concerning them.

"So, it would appear the GMPA has reduced the size of the borough by forgetting about Radcliffe and Ainsworth in its promotion exercise. If it is just an error then it is just another botch-up in a botched-up project."

A spokeswoman for the GMPA said the exclusion of Radcliffe and Ainsworth from the consultation list was "an oversight".

As part of the review of PCCGs, the new meetings will now be known as PVPs, Public Voice on Policing.

Under the new format, one meeting a year will be held in each of the five major policing areas of the borough: Bury, Ramsbottom and Tottington, Prestwich, Whitefield, and hopefully, Radcliffe and Ainsworth.