One week since Operation Vulcan Piccadilly launched and police make crucial arrests and drug seizures in bid to clean up the area

It’s been one week since Operation Vulcan Piccadilly was launched and the specialist team that dismantled the counterfeit trade in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester were dropped into Piccadilly Gardens.

They have been hard at work supporting existing policing efforts with the aim of making Piccadilly Gardens an undesirable place for criminals to carry out their activity.

In the first week the team has already made 14 arrests for a range of offences and carried out a number of positive stop searches, including one man who had 12 snap bags of drugs hidden in his socks. These were swiftly seized and thankfully never made it onto the streets of Manchester.

As part of this activity officers sweeping the area for hidden weapons also seized a knife from where it had been concealed under a bench in Piccadilly Gardens. 

Engagement remains a top priority in this operation, and our team are actively working to safeguard vulnerable people. This week, the team came across a 20-year-old man sleeping on a pavement in the Piccadilly Gardens area. After speaking with officers, he was taken to a community centre that seeks to help those struggling with mental health issues or drug and alcohol dependency to rebuild their lives and support them to secure and maintain a permanent home.

Detective Superintendent Neil Blackwood said: “Operation Vulcan Piccadilly is about improving the look and feel of Piccadilly Gardens ensuring it is a place that Mancunians can be proud of as the heart of our city centre.

“This space is dynamic, it has incredibly high footfall and it changes every day. The majority of people who pass through here use it for legitimate purposes – as part of a daily commute, for leisure and so on – but there are some who have sought to use it for criminal purposes.

“It is those people that our enforcement activity will be targeting. We will make criminals feel harassed and harangued so they know they are not welcome here.

“We've made a number of arrests this week, removed people loitering in the area, and engaged with people who may be vulnerable.

"On our first official day, our officers were also flagged down by a member of the public to tell them that a missing person had been spotted in the Gardens. Thankfully he was located safe and well and was reunited with his family.

"This just goes to show the importance of having a dedicated policing presence in the area. If our officers had not been there, I believe the opportunity to safeguard this man might have been lost. 

"Ultimately, Operation Vulcan Piccadilly is intended to target every level of criminality and ensure the people coming to Piccadilly Gardens for legitimate purposes feel supported.

"I am excited by what's ahead and I think it's going to make a positive difference to the look and feel of our city and elevate what Manchester has to offer."

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council said: "It is encouraging that within its first week Operation Vulcan Piccadilly is making a positive impact. Our priority is making sure that Piccadilly Gardens is a safe and welcoming space for residents, workers and visitors to our city. We know the unique challenges this area faces, but I am encouraged to see that offenders are being targeted proactively, and partners are working together to ensure that vulnerable people are given the right support."