Three arrests made over Ludlow burglaries
Three people have now been arrested in connection with a spate of shop burglaries in Ludlow – and there will be more, police say.
Chief Superintendent Charles Hill and Inspector Robert Thomas told a meeting of Ludlow residents that progress was being made on bringing to justice those responsible for a string of break-ins at independent shops, restaurants and pubs in and around the town.
They told a meeting of Ludlow and Clee Area local joint committee that a third arrest had now been made in connection with the crimes.
They also announced Ludlow Police Station was to become a patrol base once more, not simply an office for use by police based in Leominster as it has been since 2013.
The officers appeared at the meeting along with deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Barrie Sheldon to talk to residents about crime and safety in the region.
Inspector Thomas said there had been a rise in burglaries in the area year on year with 12 house burglaries and 20 "shed and shop" burglaries from April to October in 2014 and 21 and 43 respectively this year.
"Twenty-seven of those were in the town centre, and that is not lost on me," he said.
The three arrested were local men. "And there will be further arrests – I've identified several other people in this group," he added.
Chief Superintendent Hill said two other groups had been arrested, one a group of Eastern European origin based in London who had been responsible for dozens of burglaries across the UK, eight of which were in the south Shropshire area, and another group linked to the West Midlands and North West.
He said that Ludlow remained a low crime area, but paradoxically fear of crime tended to be higher in such areas. However, he said the return of Ludlow as a patrol base should mean increased police visibility.
"We're not changing the amount of resources in the patrol zone as a whole, but there will now be two bases – some cops will be stationed at Leominster and some at Ludlow," he said.
He added that officers would still cover the same area and a base was simply where they started their patrols, but an analysis of response times had shown that they had suffered in Ludlow as officers tended gravitate towards their base, which was one of the reasons for the change.
Town councillor Glen Ginger said he hoped the move would not simply be a "token presence". "You've got to have a visible presence around the town and in the police station that people can relate to and talk to," he said.
