Neighbourhood Watch at work in Wharfedale and Aireborough (From Ilkley Gazette)

Neighbourhood Watch at work in Wharfedale and Aireborough

5:50pm Thursday 20th May 2010

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Police are celebrating 25 years of a crime-fighting partnership between the force and members of the community by bringing more people on board.

Efforts are under way in Wharfedale and Aireborough this year to highlight the good work done by local Neighbourhood Watch members, and recruit more people to the scheme, in an effort to increase the number of vigilant eyes and ears in the community.

The Neighbourhood Watch roadshow came to Ilkley town centre last week to celebrate the anniversary, and give residents not part of the scheme a chance to learn more.

And this weekend, police will also be using Otley Show as a platform to launch a Farm Watch scheme – designed specifically for rural communities.

Otley Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) plans to use text messaging to help keep residents in isolated rural areas informed, and has already been out promoting the scheme at Wharfedale Farmers’ Auction Mart in the town.

The Neighbourhood Watch scheme was pioneered elsewhere in the country in 1982, based on a similar initiative in the USA, and the first groups were set up in West Yorkshire in 1985.

Community volunteers get together with their neighbours and meet regularly to discuss ways in which they can tackle minor crime in their area, with the help of police.

Members of groups – which can cover a few houses, a street, or even an entire housing estate – are encouraged to be attentive towards any suspicious behaviour. Many Neighbourhood Watch groups also work with police on crime prevention initiatives, such as urging residents to fit extra locks and make sure their homes are secure at all times.

The roadshow came to Ilkley’s central South Hawkesworth Street car park last week, accompanied by Neighbourhood Watch mascot, Detective Duck. The character was created by a schoolgirl at Benton Park School in Rawdon, winning a competition held by West Yorkshire Police.

Inspector Sue Sanderson, of Wharfedale and Craven Neighbourhood Policing Team, told residents of Addingham last week that although Neighbourhood Watch is well-supported in the Ilkley area, police would like to have as many streets as possible covered by the scheme.

“We only have a limited number of eyes, but there are thousands and thousands of eyes out there in the community, and this help is invaluable,” she said.

Anyone in the Ilkley area interested in Neighbourhood Watch can contact the NPT on (01274) 475301 or the Airedale and Bradford North co-ordinator on (01274) 376228.

Inspector Richard Coldwell, of the Leeds North West Outer NPT, which covers the Otley area, Aireborough and Horsforth, said events to mark the Neighbourhood Watch anniversary are planned during the summer. He said there are many local Neighbourhood Watch volunteers, but more are always welcome.

His officers are pioneering their new Farm Watch scheme to give more rural communities, and isolated farms and homes, a chance to join together in a crime prevention and awareness initiative.

Insp Coldwell said the scheme already has the support of the local NFU, and officers have been visiting the auction mart in a bid to get farmers and other members of the rural community involved.

More information will be available at a police stand at Otley Show on Saturday. Anyone interested in Farm Watch or in Neighbourhood Watch in the Otley, Aireborough or Horsforth area, can contact the NPT at Otley Police Station on (01274) 471458.

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