Police get delegation (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Police get delegation

A DELEGATION of local businessmen and women from Broadway will travel to police headquarters at Hindlip Hall to meet chief constable Paul West later this month.

The meeting was arranged as traders expressed growing concern about a significant increase in crime in the Cotswold village.

Another ram-raid attack in the village last week - the fifth in just over 12 months - sparked angry complaints about the lack of police protection, particularly during the night.

At a recent meeting attended by senior police officers and local MP Peter Luff, the traders expressed their anger about the apparent inability of the police to curb the growing crime wave.

But last week the chief constable announced that he would be prepared to meet the traders himself to discuss policing issues in the village, where police station volunteers were recently greeted by the retiring High Sheriff of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

The meeting, which will also be attended by Mr Luff and the chief constable's management team in South Worcestershire, will take place on April 28.

Mr Luff said this week he hoped the meeting would achieve several things.

"I hope it will reassure the traders to find that the chief constable himself is taking an interest in the problems they are facing and is keen to do something about it," he said.

"I believe it will also give the chief constable a strong argument to take to the Home Secretary on the question of merging police forces.

"If the proposed mergers go ahead, and the future of Broadway, which will then be surrounded on three sides by the south west force, is discussed between Bristol and Birmingham, the village will simply disappear from the radar.

"The chief constable will also learn at first hand the extent of the problems facing the traders trying to make a living in the village."

Mr Luff said he understood a village beat bobby was due to be appointed in the near future and volunteers were being used to keep the police station open for longer hours.

Broadway Traders Association secretary Helen Buchan confirmed that a delegation was being selected to attend the meeting.