I was recently visiting the rural areas north of Hinckley at the invitation of Cllr Ross Hills, County Councillor for the Mallory Division which covers Barlestone, Barwell, Newbold Verdon and Peckleton.
One of his main concerns was road safety on the A447 and surrounding villages. I have since been chasing this issue up and can now report back on the situation.
I would like to reassure everyone that our Neighbourhood Teams, supported by Police Volunteers and the Road Safety Unit are doing all they can to make rural roads safer.
During the last 12 months the Road Safety Unit has deployed in the core area around Stapleton on the A447 for over 26 hours at multiple sites at various times and days of the week with a total of 51 speeding offences detected in the 30 and 40mph areas during that time.
The Safety Camera Team Leader who assures me that further deployments are planned and local police are supporting their team in asking Leicestershire County Council to complete agreed installations of hard standing for the vans on the A447 from Hinckley to Hoo Ash Island at Coalville. To facilitate the deployment in the current location the Police team erected temporary Camera Enforcement signs as permanent signs are yet to be provided by Highways.
A recent joint site visit by the police with Leicestershire County Council has identified further locations for grasscrete hard standings and signage requirements. The Senior Engineer for Traffic and Signals from LCC has prioritised this work and identified:
- An additional grasscrete parking near to the Hinckley Community Hospital to address the 40mph speed limit
- An additional grasscrete parking location near School Lane in Stapleton to provide all year round parking, this is to enforce the 40mph prior to the 30mph through Stapleton when traveling towards Hinckley, however as the team will be parked in the 30mph it will also have an effect whilst parked up on the compliance with the 30mph.
- And finally an additional grasscrete parking location in Ibstock just inside the 30mph when travelling from Ravenstone to Ibstock.
The team are looking forward to being able to enforce along the whole route but in the meantime will continue to deploy where they can safely.
Cllr Hills was also concerned about crime and anti-social behaviour [ASB] in his area and the general policing situation.
Working with partners in Hinckley Councils and the Community Safety Partnership, the police have achieved funding for 1000 signal blocking pouches to help raise awareness and prevent theft of vehicles with keyless entry systems, reducing this type of theft by over 50% year on year.
Operation Fortune is having great success reducing burglaries in our area, a dedicated team of Detectives and Constables benefit from enhanced forensic support and are led by a Detective Sgt with over 100 arrests made in the last 9 months and 46 suspects currently on bail with conditions that protect communities from their offending whilst we progress investigations.
This might seem like a high number and it does represent a success reducing offences by 60% since the operation began in October last year. Bear in mind also that these figures cover the whole of Hinckley and Blaby Council areas with over 216,000 residents, burglary rates are very low. We have also secured funding to provide crime prevention items and commit to visiting all victims of burglary in our area.
Car cruises have been reported on bypasses across the area and I know they have transited through the Bosworth area. This is a regional problem across the midlands that the police are working hard to deter, identifying when events may take place so that resources can be ready to react accordingly, police teams enforce road traffic and use ASB legislation resulting in many prosecutions and vehicle seizures. These events often attract large numbers of vehicles who will disperse on the arrival of officers. By using recorded footage, witness accounts and CCTV the police take action even on those who have made off. Just recently a vehicle was seized 3 days after being involved in a car cruise and engaging in ASB with the owner being identified at their place of work. We are working with local councils to seek longer term solutions to the problem.
Police work to support vulnerable victims is ongoing, prioritising victims of domestic abuse and ensuring we provide all the support we can and bring offenders to justice wherever possible. Delivering training to licensed venues in our area has helped to ensure people are safe whilst out enjoying the many venues we have in our area, with the Ask for Angela message being shared widely.
As I hope you can see the Leicestershire Police are doing a great deal of work to make Hinckley and Bosworth a great place to live and work.
