It has touched Bury North particularly because its Labour MP, David Chaytor, is among the handful now facing criminal charges.

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The new MP who has made the single biggest impact on me is David Nuttall - the Conservative solicitor who won Bury North.

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Eleven properties in Bolton, Bury, north Manchester and Salford were searched on Wednesday.

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Defence lawyers said the three men had dug up the weapons and were moving them from north to south to re-bury them and they said the presence of a spade in the car gave credence to their claims as did the defendants' muddy boots.

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And Burnley will be hoping his return to the North West can help him recapture the form that saw him score regularly first for Bury, then up two levels at Preston.

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