POLICE have stepped up high visibility town centre foot patrols in Bridgnorth with encouraging results.
Exhibitionist ‘boy racers’ in cars and on mopeds have virtually vanished since officers threatened last year that vehicles could be confiscated.
And the presence of the bobby on the beat after schools finish has been welcomed by the public who are reassured by officers presence in ensuring good behaviour.
“We are putting more emphasis on foot patrols in the town centre and other hot-spot areas of Bridgnorth,” said beat officer Constable Richard Wood this week. “Lots of people have been coming up to us and have said how great it is to see us in the street.
“We are on patrol when schools finish and that has also been a reassurance to both the public and the students and this presence will continue,” he added.
He said there continued to be some problems in Cartway and Friar Street with drivers continuing to ignore the ‘access only’ signs.
“We will be stepping up high visibility patrols there,” he said. “There is a perennial problem of drivers using these roads as a short cut to the Riverside.”
He revealed that he was in Cartway on foot patrol on Friday night when a moped rider sped past him down the hill.
“I stood in the road to try to stop the rider but he whizzed past me,” he said. “He was stopped by other officers further on and arrested for drink-driving.”
In an isolated incident a young man was stopped for speeding in his car in Listley Street on Sunday and issued with a fixed penalty notice.
Constable Wood also reported that incidents of unruly behaviour on The Grove Estate, which led to a host of complaints from residents last year, had “calmed down a lot.”
“There have been patrols on the estate and the council has also been involved in providing excellent recreational facilities for older children, ” he said.
Several successful drug operations have been carried out in the town and Constable Wod said that these would continue whenever the police received information.
Police have visited year five and six pupils at St Leonard’s Primary School and year six pupils at St John’s Roman Catholic School to deliver STAR training in which the children are educated on the hazards of drugs, drink and cigarette smoking.