GOLBORNE AREA

Community beat officers Paula James and Keith Halliday are still working hard in the Golborne area to rebuild some of the bridges with our partner agencies. Paula regularly attends the councillors' surgery at the library on a Thursday morning. She is happy to deal with any of your concerns at this time.

Both Paula and Keith held their crime prevention surgery at Asda on May 3, this was well attended by the public. The next surgery will be Friday June 28.

Paula has taken on board the public's concerns regarding speeding on Barn Lane in Golborne. This is being looked into by the traffic department.

YOUTH ANNOYANCE

Sgt Jones organised a Policing operation during May to identify those young people responsible for causing problems on the Town Square, around the library and in Barn Lane.

Along with John Rowson and Paula James, Sgt Jones worked on the operation for a month. This included working with the local authority and the housing department. As a result of the operation video evidence was obtained and a number of offenders arrested.

If the culprits are juveniles they will be spoken to in the presence of their parents.

BARN LANE

Over the past weeks there has been an increased number of calls to the Barn Lane area. The cenotaph seems to be a focal point for young people. Many residents find it offensive and disrespectful for these youngsters to gather and climb all over the monument. The police are in full agreement with the residents and are working towards reducing this problem.

This issue has been raised at a joint meeting with the local councillors and the police. At the moment the council are looking for ways of preventing the youngsters gaining access to the cenotaph.

BRAITHWAITE ROAD

Community beat officer John Rowson is still providing high profile policing in the area. He has liaised with the youth service, who have stated that they will work in the area asking young people what facilities they want. Once this information has been obtained John will apply for funding. Hopefully this will have the long-term effect of moving the large groups away from the residential areas.

One of the greatest successes this month has been the evidence used via the CCTV in Golborne Town Centre. Offenders have been identified from the videos, arrested and are due to appear in court.

Sgt Jones wants the public to know that the CCTV in Golborne is working and if people decide to commit offences they will be recorded on video, identified and arrested.

HINDLEY AREA

PC Sean Mullaney is still working hard on the Borsdane estate to reduce youth annoyance. He is being assisted by PC Alan Mackay. Albeit the number of calls have reduced slightly over the past few weeks there is still a lot of work to be done to solve the problem.

Sean is still working closely with the housing department to identify troublesome youths and families who are contributing to problems in and around the Hindley area.

VEHICLE CRIME

During the last month Sean has carried out extensive research into the stolen and recovered vehicles that have been abandoned in his particular area. After tenacious and protracted enquiries he has identified the possible ring leaders. Arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.

TOWN CENTRE

PC Mark Schofield has been working closely with the town centre manager to reduce the number of burglaries at commercial premises in the town.

The area team at Hindley has visited all shops and business premises in the town that were likely targets of this type of crime. Crime prevention advice was given and security marker pens provided. This was well received by the community and has led to a reduction in burglaries in the area.