PART of £60,000 of extra government cash given to Morecambe police will be spent on gateing off every back alley in the West End.

The scheme will be used because police chiefs reckon burglars are "too lazy" to climb them.

Morecambe police received the money specifically to prevent burglaries - the number of houses broken into the West End is more than twice the national average.

Other schemes to beat the burglars include:

Registering every tenant in multi-occupancy homes with the city council - landlords could choose not to accept tenants who don't register.

Spending more money tracking down people who buy stolen property.

Handing out security equipment and advice to victims of burglaries - once your property has been burgled it is much more likely to be again.

Deploying health workers to work with burglars with drug and drink problems while they're in custody.

Det Ch Insp Neil Smith of Lancaster police explained that only the Alexandra and Poulton wards had such a severe crime problem (in 1998 there were 123 domestic burglaries in Alexandra ward and 98 in Poulton). The rest of the district is safer than elsewhere in the county to live. He added: "We aim to reduce burglaries by ten per cent... this isn't a huge amount of money but it means we can focus on this. It means we can make a start. It's about making an impact. I want to stress that we will work with other bodies like the city council and health authority.

"The idea about the alley gateing was used in Merseyside to great effect. A lot of properties are attacked from the rear. But, basically burglars are lazy to climb them. They're real opportunists. Make life difficult for them and you will deter them."

The Morecambe police anti-burglary scheme will be monitored this year by the national government. If it is deemed successful the force will receive money for the second year of this three year project.

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