TWO people have been issued with on-the-spot fines after misbehaving in the accident and emergency department at the Royal Bolton Hospital.
The £80 fixed penalty notices were handed out as part of a pilot scheme - the first in the UK - to reduce disorder and violence against staff in casualty.
Police did not reveal why the fines were issued, but Chief Inspector Martin Greenhalgh, from Bolton Police, said: "The objective is to reduce anti-social behaviour in accident and emergency and to provide reassurance.
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"There have been small numbers of the fines handed out because there has been a reduction in disorder."
Police officers are on site to hand out the fines at the times when trouble is most likely to flare. The scheme is a response to a rise in the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour towards hospital staff across the country.
In the six months up to the end of September, security staff at the Royal Bolton Hospital escorted 40 people from the casualty department for aggressive behaviour.
Doctors, nurses and porters were abused by 41 people - both patients and the people they were with - in that period.
Sister Barbara Fogg, senior sister in accident and emergency, said: "We're very pleased with the way the project is going. Staff in accident and emergency say the increased police presence helps keep the department calm and makes the environment feel a lot safer."
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