County receives £5m to tackle violent crime

AN ADDITIONAL £5m is to be given to police and crime commissioners in parts of Yorkshire to tackle violent crime, Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced.

The money is aimed at allowing violence reduction units to continue their work. These units look to bring together partner groups to tackle violent crime by understanding its root causes.

Police and crime commissioners received £35m to set up the centres in August. Ms Patel announced the funding will continue for 2020/21. West Yorkshire will receive £3.3m and South Yorkshire £1.6m.

CCTV FOOTAGE which appears to show a missing firefighter on the night he disappeared has been released by police.

The video shows a man, believed to be Anthony Knott, walking along White Hill, in Lewes, East Sussex, where he was last seen on Friday December 20.

Mr Knott, a 33-year-old father of four from Orpington, Kent, had been out with friends at The Lamb pub, in Lewes, before leaving at 7.16pm for unknown reasons, Sussex Police said.

The CCTV footage shows him walking along White Hill, opposite the Elephant and Castle pub, at 7.19pm, and up Market Street at 7.41pm. According to the time captured on the CCTV image, the second sighting occurs 20 minutes after Mr Knott’s phone was switched off.

Chief Inspector Sarah Godley said: “Anthony has a distinctive walk and we believe, in releasing this footage, more people may come forward with information.

“We are appealing for anyone in this CCTV footage to make contact with us so we can confirm whether this is Anthony.”

Mr Knott, who works for London Fire Brigade, is described as white, approximately 6ft and of medium build, with mediumbrown short gelled hair. He is also said to have a distinctive gait, with a slight bounce.

He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved top, a dark denim suit-style jacket, dark denim jeans and black shoes.

Teams from Sussex Police and the London Fire Brigade have carried out extensive searches of the area around the pub and the outdoor freshwater Pells Pool.

Police said flood water had made the search operation “challenging”.