FORMER Coronation Street star Saeed Jaffrey helped launched a new scheme designed to get the support of Asian businessmen in crime prevention.

The event, organised by the Lancashire Partnership Against Crime, was held last Thursday (October 7) and attracted more than 150 people.

Saeed Jaffrey OBE, who, until recently, played cornershop owner Ravi Desai in the popular ITV soap until a couple of months ago, launched the event, which lasted for two hours and involved a series of speakers, all of who were promoting the benefits of crime prevention.

A spokesman for the police said: "The aim of the evening was to involve more sections of the business community in the fight against crime.

"Businessmen are a very valuable ally." Deputy chief constable Paul Stevenson opened the evening, expressing his gratitude to those who had attended and urging the ethnic minorities to join in the fight against crime.

His sentiments were shared by Mohammed Parwez Ahmed, from Birmingham City Council, who explained the work of the Birmingham Asian Businesses Association and its role in the fight against crime in Britain's second city.

Tom Croft, the chairman of LANPAC then explained the benefits of joining the organisation, which works county-wide.

Tahir Mohsaz, director of the rapidly-growing Time computer group, based in Burnley, also spoke. Police officers believe his presence to be something of a coup, as he is known to be very reclusive.

"To have such a big firm represented was excellent," the spokesman added.

Inspector John Donnelley also gave a talk on the practicalities of joining LANPAC, and what advantages there are to members.

The spokesman added: "We had more than 150 delegates on the evening.

"This is the first time we have carried out such an event and we are very impressed with the way it went. We hope we can do something similar in the future.

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