A few weeks ago I spent a Community Day in Charnwood meeting with local residents, councillors and business owners. I can now report back on the follow up to the issues that I was told about.
Unauthorised Encampments
There have been unauthorised encampments in Browns Lane earlier this year (February and March 2023) but they were served with a Section 61 Public Order Notice and have moved on since.
Shepshed Shoplifting
In 2023 there have been 49 reports of Shoplifting reported and recorded to the Police, below is an extract from POWER-Bi and as can be seen, a slight rise towards 2023 from 2022 but nowhere near the numbers pre-pandemic. The local Beat Sergeant is now reviewing the situation in Shepshed. The Beat Sergeant for Loughborough town centre is aware of this as an on-going issue in the town centre and that recently our colleagues from Charnwood Borough Council CCTV are working with us to progress any investigations. This work will now be undertaken within Shepshed.
Graffiti
The Safer Street Project Officer, Phil Martindale, has looked into this problem. There are relatively few reports of Graffiti within Charnwood compared to some other areas. However there was a notable recent incident that cost £1700 to remove the Graffiti in and around the underpass on Browns Lane, Loughborough. This work was funded by the Safer Streets Fund, which my office won from the Home Office in a bidding process late last year.
The police are also aware of a “tag“ that had been sprayed around Loughborough but have not yet been able to obtain enough evidence to Identify the suspect. There has also been a recent case at the Pinfold Medical Centre regarding criminal damage / spray paint on the building. It was deemed to be a mental health episode with crimes committed rather than a graffiti spree, which would count as ASB or criminal damage. A suspect was identified for this damage and arrested. This male is currently on police Bail and still under investigation for the offence.
E-scooters
There has been recent literature given to officers from the Town centre beat and university regarding the use of E-scooters and electric bikes. It is an offence to which the police can deal with, mainly Section 165 of the Road Traffic Act. Officers routinely patrol the High Street and Market Street of Loughborough Town centre on Market days and will pro-actively deal with persons on e-scooters using recent guidance and policy from our Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU). This being the “4 E’s” Engage, Encourage, Explain and Enforce. The current policy is to confiscate e-scooters from the worst offenders rather than from everyone using them.
