The village hiring its own security squad

A VILLAGE is to hire a private security team after the local police force said it was getting rid of beat officers.

Burglaries have soared by almost 150 per cent over the past 12 months in Tiptree, Essex, and other offences are on the rise.

But Essex Police insists it no longer has resources to act on low-level crimes.

Parish councillors decided to take action after learning police community support officers would not be available from April. The village had already lost dedicated police officers and its police station closed in 2011.

Councillors voted on Monday to look at bringing in security staff and a warden, with £12,000 already set aside for a trial.

Essex Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston condemned the idea, saying it would create a ‘two-tier policing system’. There have been 82 burglaries in Tiptree since September last year, as well as spikes in criminal damage and arson and shoplifting.

The Parish council’s Steve Bays said: ‘This is a last resort. All the council believes it should be a police officer’s or PCSO’s job. Essex Police is now a reactive force, not a preventa- tive force.’ Another councillor, Diana Webb, warned that criminals would take advantage if they knew there was no law enforcement.

‘We have to be realistic,’ she said. ‘There will be police cuts so we are not going to have the kind of police presence we had in the past, so we had to look at an alternative.’

Peter Healey, 77, who recently had money stolen in an eBay fraud, said: ‘When I had to report what happened to me they told me to go to my local police station. I told them I can’t, it’s been closed down. I was asked to do it online and it took Essex Police more than 56 days to send a reply, so I had to get my MP involved.’

Under a Community Safety Accreditation Scheme the village could have public, private or voluntary sector staff with powers including issuing penalty notices for minor offences. They would not have the power to detain or arrest suspects.

Essex Police needs to save £60million over the next five years due to budget cuts. A spokesman said: ‘We need to put our frontline officers where the most harm is being caused.’

A MAN has appeared in court over a threeday crimewave that prompted vigilante patrols in a North Wales town. Mark Godsall, 43, was charged with burglary or attempted burglary of 11 businesses in Denbigh over 72 hours. He has admitted two counts of burglary.