Residents association plan to raise £10,000 for CCTV to stop fear factor in Poulton

Oct 29 2008 by Carrie Catterall, Wallasey News

ALMOST £10,000 is being raised to make homeowners feel safe again after a mobile police station was removed from Poulton.

The unit was placed in the Sherlock Lane area throughout the summer to curb anti-social behaviour and crime which had been escalating at a distressing rate over the past five years.

Pensioners were said to be scared of leaving their homes, balls were reported to have been kicked at babies and people were taunted by children who ripped up rubber tiles from the park, lit them and launched them over garden walls.

Since the mobile police station with 24-hour CCTV was placed in the trouble spot, crime in the Seacombe/Poulton areas reduced by 7.2% compared with the previous period, July to December 2007.

However on October 13, shortly after the unit was removed, a house in Rankin Street was raided by police who discovered a large amount of cannabis, weapons and some stolen property.

Three males and one female were arrested and then released on police bail.

Now the unit has moved, residents say they are afraid again and their association, called Tate Triangle - formed last year to take back control of the streets - has decided to raise money to get their own permanent CCTV in place.

Secretary of Tate Triangle, Jenny Catterall, said: “The unit was like a security blanket for the area - now it has gone people have got that fear factor back.

“Even though crime has reduced significantly, there are still problems, so we are raising £9,000 to get our own camera erected.”

A police spokesman said: “We are aware there are still problems in Poulton and we will continue to tackle them.

“The mobile police station was a success story while it was in place and it has been moved to help another trouble spot area.”