Hundreds of Skelmersdale residents attend anti-crime event

Jan 31 2013 by Tom Duffy, Skelmersdale Advertiser

HUNDREDS of people attended a crime-fighting event at the Concourse shopping centre.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, Clive Grunshaw, joined representatives from the council’s ASBO team, street scene and dog control officers, police, firefighters, and probation staff.

Lancashire County Council’s safer travel unit and West Lancashire CVS also attended the event which was supported by around 300 Skelmersdale residents.

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The community safety day was organised by West Lancashire Borough Council following a crackdown on anti-social behaviour and cannabis growing.

The event took place on Friday, the day after the Advertiser revealed that the area surrounding the Concourse was the town’s crime hotspot.

The top 10 crime hotspots were: the Concourse, Asdsa petrol station, Inglewhite, Egerton, Tanhouse Road, Houghton’s Lane, Eskbank, Yewdale, Birch Green Road and Willow Hey.

Cllr David Sudworth, portfolio holder for community safety, said: “I am very grateful to all those who attended the community safety information day.

“West Lancashire is continuing to lead the way in community safety, and this is down to the strong and positive links we have built up with partners.

“This has seen a number of crack downs on issues such as anti-social behaviour and cannabis cultivation, to name just a few.

“I spent a couple of hours at the event myself, speaking to partners about how we will continue working together to make West Lancashire as safe as possible. Recorded crime is down in West Lancashire and we will carry on working hard to keep it that way.”

Mr Grunshaw said: “I would like to thank the council and all the partners for inviting me along. Also, thank you to the police officers and PCSOs who lent their support to the event.

“This was a real opportunity to meet local people, business owners and partners to discuss issues of crime and policing in Skelmersdale.”

Last week the Advertiser also revealed that there were 3,743 recorded crimes in Skelmersdale from December 2011 to November 2012, compared with 4,514 in the the previous figures.

There were 1,804 instances of anti-social behaviour in the town, and 461 violent crimes, compared with 2,118 and 465 on the previous year.

There were 1,034 “other” crimes, which include criminal damage, arson, theft, public disorder, weapons and shoplifting.

The website www.police.uk links crimes to approximate locations, so residents can understand where crime happens.

Last year’s top 10 areas were: Firbeck, Inglewhite, Blakehall, Cherrycroft, Banksbarn, Abbeywood, Back Lane, Enstone, Ennerdale and Elmridge.