"You just don't know who's at the door": The Greater Manchester suburb where parents are too scared to let their kids trick or treat

Spooky costumes, pumpkins and sweets, knocking on a stranger’s door. Halloween can be an exciting time for children who look forward to dressing up and collecting buckets full of treats.

But there are some parents in one north Manchester suburb who wouldn't dream of letting their kids out on October 31.

Families in Cheetham Hill put their concerns down to local crime rates – with one dad choosing to take his daughter out in Rochdale instead.

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“I wouldn’t take my daughter out around here because of the amount of stabbings,” Ethan Joyce, 19, told the Manchester Evening News. “I’m taking her all the way to Rochdale. You have to protect them.”

Violent incidents in Cheetham Hill have been halved by almost 50 per cent thanks to a recent police crackdown. In a bid to combat organised crime and violence, GMP launched ‘Operation Vulcan’ at the end of 2022.

It’s believed more than 30 organised crime gangs work in the area, with counterfeit goods proven to have strong links to human trafficking and terrorist organisations.

By March this year, police say there had been a huge 50 per cent drop in public order offences. Increased arrests were made for harassment and violent disturbances while personal thefts were halved. There was also a 60 per cent drop in vehicle crimes.

But the crime rate reduction hasn’t eased some residents’ fears over their safety – with one man saying he even keeps a baseball bat by his front door just in case.

On whether he would answer those trick or treating at his home, he said: “I would if they were with someone and