Tim Pickstone

Warning from the local police of people posing as roofers.

Four men came to an address this week - one of them banged on the window and then spoke with the occupant. The male claimed that the guttering on the house needed replacing, and eventually two of them took the elderly person in a van to a bank in Manchester where it was possible to raise the alarm. The men were using a white van.

We are beginning to see more and more mornings when vehicles are frosted over.

Many people in residential areas may be tempted to leave their vehicles with the engines running whilst they nip back inside their houses to keep warm. Unfortunately car thieves are aware of this and now that winter is here they will be up and about early in the mornings driving around residential areas looking for easy pickings.

Don’t leave your car engine running on the street or your driveway unless you are stood with it. If a criminal steals your car with the keys in the ignition, your insurer is unlikely to pay out. Can you afford to give away thousands of pounds in an instant?

Yesterday I attended the Prestwich Local Area Tasking Team. This is the body that brings together various staff that are working to make Prestwich a safer place (Police, Council, Six Town Housing etc). I try to attend as a representative of the nice Prestwich councillors. Yesterday’s meeting was, for some reason, very poorly attended - hopefully this will pick up again next time.

There were a number of issues discussed, including:
- We talked a lot about concerns many local residents and business owners have around the area of the shops on Heywood Road (near Heaton Park reservoir) and some people who are worried about a group of young people ‘hanging out’ here in the evenings. The police are very aware of this situation.
- We discussed alley-gating, particularly now that the Council has a policy which allows alley-gating schemes to go ahead. In particular I asked about progress on the three alley-gating schemes that we have as potials in Polefield, and also another group of local residents who’ve approached me on the Taunton Grove alley. The Police are going to look into all of these.
- We discussed some issues around Baguley Crescent (in Middleton, but part of Bury Council and part of “Prestwich” for Council issues). There have been a number of concerns about fly-tipping and other criminal issues amongst a small number of residents. The area is actually policed by the Middleton Police Team, and our Prestwich team agreed to get in touch with them to make appropriate contacts.

(On leaving the meeting I had chance to have a quick look at the small exhibition upstairs at the Library on the history of Prestwich Hospital. It is only a small exhibition, but well worth a quick look if you are in the building!)

Any questions, please ask!
Tim

Bury Council’s trading standards team is warning residents to be on their guard after a council tax scam was uncovered.

The scam involves fraudsters posing as council staff, who are telephoning residents to say they have paid too much council tax and then asking for their bank account details so that a refund can be processed.

The fraudsters have operated in a number of Greater Manchester boroughs, and Bury Council is eager to make sure they don’t start in this borough.

Peter Jagger, head of Bury’s trading standards, said: “Residents giving out their bank details risk having money taken from their accounts.

“A phone call of this nature would not be made by our council tax team, so we would urge residents never to give out personal information, unless they know who the caller is.”

Anyone who receives these suspicious calls, or has further information about the scam, such as a name, address or telephone number, should report it to trading standards on 08454 040506.

Following the last meeting of the Council’s Executive, a new strategy to tackle domestic violence has been launched in Bury. The first of its kind, it outlines the extent of the problem at local and national level, and sums up what is being done both in Bury and through government initiatives.

Domestic violence affects one in four women and one in six men. Last year, police in Bury attended 4,100 incidents of domestic violence: and more than half of those were repeat incidents. The last three murders in Bury have been related to domestic violence.

The financial cost in Bury is £87 million a year, in terms of agency costs, medical bills, employers’ costs, and personal expenditure such as having to move house. At the launch, second-year students from Bury College performed a 15-minute show on the impact that domestic violence has on family life.

Four groups were presented with cheques totalling £2,500 raised locally during the White Ribbon campaign of November/December. They were: Women’s Housing Action Group, Greater Manchester Domestic Violence Helpline, the CAB, and Counselling Direct.

For more information contact Jaria Hussain-Lala on 0161 253 5167.

Yesterday I attended Prestwich’s “Area Tasking Team”. This is the first time I’ve attended this meeting, as its not the most convenient of times for someone with a 9-5 job (its at 1.00pm), however I’ve recently been nominated as the Councillor “rep” to attend, and it as well worth making the effort.

The Area Tasking Team brings together a whole host of people working to make Prestwich a safer place: police, the Area Manager, environmental health, youth manager, 6 town housing, anti-social behavior staff etc. The idea is, and it seems to work, is that bringing all these agencies together will make things happen.

A few things to report:

Penryn Drive

If people don’t know this, its a small cul-de-sac just behind the parade of shops near the metrolink bridge on Heywood Road.
A new homewatch scheme has been set up, in response to anti-social behaviour in the area behind the shops. There is a lot of local support for the initiative which seems to be working well. I know my colleague Vic D’Albert has been working closely with the residents and keeping us informed.

CCTV
The Police and Council wished to review some of the CCTV cameras we have in Prestwich and check that they are seeing what they need to. This is an ongoing issue which will be brought back to a future meeting.

Graffiti
Probably the biggest issue that causes complaints across Prestwich at the moment. I was already aware of much of the excellent work that the police and council have done here, but like the rest of us, very frustrated that the problem is still with us. There were a number of issues and possible solutions that I agreed I would raise with senior council officials.

Other issues
We got an update from issues that had been brought up at previous meetings. These included the Polefield area, Venwood Road, Shebourne Court and the back of Tescos/Prestwich Hospital. A lot of work had been done by the police and others and it was good to hear that this had been having an impact.

Any questions, please ask!

tim

Back in the summer your local Lib Dem Councillors brought the problem of graffiti in Prestwich to the attention of Bury Council. As many local people will know we have some terrible stretches of graffiti, mostly in a few areas such as the Village centre, Sedgley Park and on our own side of Prestwich in the area around Heaton Park metro and up Bury Old Road.

When we raised the issue in the summer we were asked to let the Council know the problem areas so that they could clean the graffiti up. Some excellent work has been done, particularly by our local Police and our local Prestwich Area Manager, but the worst of the graffiti is still ruining our area.

All the Graffiti we reported in the summer is still there - so I put my camera to good use all nine Prestwich Lib Dem Councillors took the issue straight to the town hall! I’ve been asked to send in the images to the Council for them to take action - so watch this space!

Prestwich Lib Dem Councillors at Bury Town Hall for a Full Council meeting. l-r Wilf Davison, Vic D’Albert, Ann Garner, Donal O’Hanlon, Steve Wright, Tim Pickstone, Mary D’Albert, Andrew Garner and Richard Baum

And just some of the graffit:

Heaton Street

Kenyon Lane

Bailey Street

Message from Sergeant Ian Campbell, Prestwich Police Team

Over the last nine years I have been privileged to lead your Prestwich Neighbourhood Policing Team, working with Communities and Partners to improve Neighbourhood Policing throughout Prestwich.

Prestwich Neighbourhood Police Team offer support to residents, schools, businesses, interest groups and faith groups throughout Prestwich. This year we have focused on getting Prestwich Homewatch Groups up and running again, supported by Community Bobbies. They make a huge difference to all sections of the community. Starting today with my first message I will be sending a regular message to Prestwich email contacts to keep you up to date with what’s going on, and to give you community safety news in Prestwich.

I hope you find this message useful and please forward this onto your neighbours. If you would like to add any member to the email contacts list please forward to me the information.

November Message
As we all get excited and busy for Christmas my message to residents is Make your property Safer so only Santa can get in ! The season for buying expensive Christmas presents can also attract unwanted attention from thieves and opportunists.

Here are my TOP FIVE TIPS to keep you safer

1 If you are not part of a Neighbourhood Homewatch join one…. or if there isn’t one contact Prestwich Police and we’ll get you started.
2 Don’t display your presents on show for all to see, and be vigilant.
3 Insecure doors and windows are opportunities for thieves, lock them when not in use.
4 Improve your home security to deter criminals. The top deterrent as always is a burglar alarm, however many other measures are effective.
5 Take advantage of my free gift to you….. a Free Security check by a Local Community Bobby or Community Support Officer.(By request !).

Thank You for your time, stay safe.

Sergeant Ian Campbell
Telephone 0161 856 4528/9 (Answer Phone Facility)
e-mail : prestwich.npt@gmp.police.uk

The BurySafe Partnership, in particular the Police and Trading Standards, would like your help generally in preventing doorstep crime (bogus officials and/or rogue traders).

Across the borough in the last few days, we have had several doorstep crime incidents; the tactic or modus operandi has been as follows;

Water Board Officials - Elderly people have been targeted by individuals posing as bogus officials from the Water Board (actually United Utilities) and in some cases they have displayed fake identification cards. House holders are often distracted when asked to check water pressure or taps and other accomplices enter the property and acquire items or cash.

Security Intercom or Equipment - In this case two individuals, a male and female, were purporting to be working for a company in Blackpool who were doing work for Six Town Housing.

If you have any elderly or vulnerable relatives, or know any one who may be the potential victim of doorstep crime, please try to discourage them from buying goods and services on their door step. Encourage them not to open doors to strangers cold calling. If they have any concerns about their water or other services they should contact their service provider direct. Please also encourage residents to use their door chains and/or not to be afraid to refuse entry. If they are unsure do not open the door. If in doubt keep them out.

Stickers can be made available for any one who would like them which state no cold calling. If anyone wants to report a door step crime incident, please contact the police on the numbers below. Your Homewatch Coordinator may also be able to assist.

For further information or advice in the first instance contact The Police Crime Reduction Adviser on 0161-856-8046. Alternatively make contact with Trading Standards Tel 0161-253-5566 .

If a Crime is in progress contact the Police on 999 or 872 5050. Try to record as much information as possible.

Bury’s Police division has just announced that it has been successful in securing eight extra police officers for what it calls “priority areas”.

One of those extra constables will be for our area and will focus on the areas around Polefield and Prestwich Arts College. Apparently it will take sometime for the extra officers to arrive, but still good news for our area.

Tim