‘Exclusion zone is cleaning up town’
A NEW town centre exclusion zone targeting Accrington’s most prolific shoplifters has started to clean up the town, it’s been claimed.
Last month we revealed that Hyndburn council would issue Criminal Behaviour Orders banning known thieves from entering the town centre - because brazen offenders were ‘stealing to order’ and selling on their wares in pubs.
Coun Clare Cleary, who chairs the Accrington Town Team, said the measure has already started to pay dividends.
She told the Observer: “We’ve worked quite closely with the police and come up with a good solution. We have been effective in moving a couple of people who have been prolific shoplifters.
“All the pubs have been written to by the council and they know that we do on-the-spot checks with our officers. Any pubs where someone is seen to be receiving stolen goods then the licence will be brought up in front of the licensing committee. I don’t think we have got any problems with it now.
“The police are doing an exceptional job of trying to police this. It’s a problem and we are working closely with the police and we really appreciate the hard work that they’re doing.”