Not enough police on the beat, say Shropshire councils

More than six out of 10 parish and town councils have expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of visible patrols.

Satisfaction was lowest in Telford & Wrekin, where 83 per cent of parish and town councils rated the police presence as either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, with not one rating it as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

In the Shropshire Council area, 62 per cent of councils rated police presence as poor or very poor, with 36 per cent describing it as fair, good or excellent.

The figures were revealed in a survey commissioned by West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion.

A total of 12 town or parish councils in Telford & Wrekin and 45 in the rest of the county took part in the survey.

In Telford, 42 per cent of councils said the police were doing a fair, good or excellent job. But only 25 per cent had confidence in police to resolve crime and disorder issues.

In the rest of the county, the majority felt the police were doing a satisfactory job. In the Shropshire Council area 36 per cent said they did not have confidence in the police to tackle crime and disorder, while 27 per cent said they did.

Road safety was deemed a major problem by eight councils in Shropshire district. However, crime and anti-social behaviour were considered less of a concern, with 67 per cent saying they were either not a major problem or not a problem at all.

Gangs

Councillor Andy Boddington, who represents Ludlow on Shropshire Council, said police presence was almost non-existent in some villages.

“In the wider Ludlow area, you rarely see the police in the rural villages, and never on foot," he said.

"In Ludlow itself it has improved in recent months. You see the community support officers around in the day and sometimes during the night.”

Councillor Boddington said Ludlow suffered from crime gangs coming in from outside the area, because it was easy to get in and out undetected. He also said he disagreed that anti-social behaviour was not a problem in the county, adding that it was usually a result of young people not having enough to do.

Mr Campion said “The findings are reflective of the plans already in place, reinforcing the understanding of the relationship between communities and police. It is reassuring to see that the police response is generally good but there are some clear areas to improve. Visibility of frontline policing is a priority and I have invested to protect this.”

He said road safety had also been identified as an area for improvement, and he said he would ensure the police had resources to tackle this.