TWO shops in Bolton town centre were found to be selling legal highs in a police crackdown.

Officers seized cannabis grinders, cannabis pipes and 40 liquid go poppers at the businesses and advice was given to owners and staff.

The shops are not being named at this stage and police will continue to monitor the situation and check for any anti-social behaviour linked to the sale of the products with a view to taking action at a later date.

Officers, accompanied by Bolton Council's Trading Standards, visited six shops in total, five in the town centre and one in Farnworth.

Two of them had sold so-called legal highs in the past, while the others provided, amongst other things, shisha and amyl nitrate.

Legal highs shop Nirvana shut in May after Bolton Council served it with a Community Protection Notice. The shop moved from Bold Street in the town centre in February after the council applied for a closure order because of anti-social behaviour being linked to the business.

Legal highs, soon to be outlawed under government plans, are often designed to mimic drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.

Sgt Michael Sharples said: "We will be monitoring these businesses and any activity associated the sales of these products. This has been about reinforcing the fact that we are on top of this issue. We are leading by example on this, and have become the blueprint really for the force.

"It is hard to stop businesses selling these substances under current legislation, so it has been a case of playing catch-up."

More than 100 premises across Greater Manchester were visited last week in the first region-wide police crackdown on psychoactive drugs, codenamed Operation Ramsey.

Poppers can give a short, sharp head-rush and can be fatal if swallowed or used by people with heart problems.

Only last week, five people collapsed and were hospitalised in Bury following an adverse reaction after taking the drug known as ‘Spice’.