As part of their ongoing initiative to tackle Farm & Rural Crime a short crime prevention video has been produced for farmers and landowners by Lancashire Police.
Check out their top tips on how to protect your property by clicking on the Rural Watch crime prevention video at
http://www.youtube.com/user/lancspolice?feature=mhee
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For the latest Consumer Safety Bulletin from Lancashire County Council please use the link below:
RURAL WATCH
The West Lancashire Rural Watch scheme was originally
launched on 31st July 2009 by PCSO Dawn Baldwin, who covers Halsall
and Knowsley Wards and PCSO Jill Reid who covers Aughton Ward. They were very
concerned about the isolation and vulnerability of farmers and others living in
the outlying areas of West Lancashire and they
felt that there were a lot of problems going unreported and consequently
unaddressed. They hope that the scheme will encourage and improve two way
communications, strengthen community sprit, and re-assure the communities that
the Police are taking their issues and problems seriously. The scheme will keep
members informed of problems in the area, when they are happening
The scheme involves a partnership between the Lancashire
Constabulary and the local rural and farming community working together to
improve links and encourage the sharing of information, supported by the NFU
and NFU Mutual. This will assist the police to deal more effectively with incidents
such as sightings of suspicious vehicles, worrying of stock, poaching, thefts,
criminal damage and any other local issues. In turn this will reduce crime in
rural areas.
A meeting was held at Ormskirk Police Station on 31st
July 2009 and was well attended, members of the public who attended provided
very positive feedback and encouraged the officers there that there is
sufficient interest within the rural communities to develop the scheme further.
At present the scheme has grown to approximately 400
members, and numbers are increasing all the time as people within the local
area spread the word.
We have recently introduced SMS Texting service, this has
proved very popular with our Rural Watch members and is a great success as it
enables us to send information out quickly to the rural community while they
are going about their daily work.
The scheme will rely heavily upon the members participating
and keeping us informed of events when they happen. Inevitably, there will be
some scepticism from some quarters, but the scheme managers intend to address
this by showing how the system can be successful in addressing the needs of the
rural communities.
Membership of the Rural Watch scheme is free and anyone who
wishes to become involved, or to join the scheme’s mailing list should contact
the police using the details below.
E- Mail WESTLANCS.RURALWATCH@LANCASHIRE.PNN.POLICE.UK
Phone: Town Green Police Station on 01695-424000 , this
will either be answered by our local volunteers or you can leave a message on
the 24hour answer phone.
Contact numbers for the Police:
999 Urgent or emergency calls, i.e.
accidents, life threatening, crime in progress
0845 1 25 35 45 Non urgent calls,
i.e. anything that is causing a problem and requires police attention.
01695 566444 Neighbourhood Office, a 24 hour answer machine is
available for contacting your local neighbourhood team.