Police have helped businesses deal with crime and antisocial behaviour in the town centre.

Officers from the Central South Neighbourhood Team visited shops on Friday with partner agencies to raise awareness and discuss support on ways to reduce retail crime.

Street wardens and representatives from Change, Live, Grow, and Swindon Borough Council’s Homelessness and Anti-Social Behaviour teams joined the police during the visits and patrols of hotspot locations.

A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said: “Thank you to members of the public who spoke to us, whether it was asking for our advice or highlighting their issues with Swindon town centre.”

This comes as part of Safer Business Action Week, which included visits from neighbourhood policing teams across Wiltshire to businesses in their area to chat about experiences of crime. Residents have highlighted retail crime and public safety in town and city centres in Wiltshire and Swindon as two of the main criminal threats they wanted to be dealt with.

(Image: Wiltshire Police)

Now, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire, Phillip Wilkinson, has placed a renewed focus on this in the first draft of his Police and Crime Plan for 2025-2029.

He said: “I have spoken to shop managers and small to medium business owners who have made it clear to me that they want to something done about the criminals who are having a profound effect on their ability to survive in the current financial climate.

“It is also clear that people who work in retail should feel they can go into work without the fear of being assaulted or abused.

“I’m aware of situations in Wiltshire where this has happened, and I want anyone who works in the retail industry to know that my team is working with Wiltshire Police and our partners to make your working environment safer, and to make you feel safer.”

As a result of his Use Your Voice survey over the summer, the PCC has highlighted retail crime as one of the areas that matter most to people in Wiltshire and Swindon and has made it one of two new focal points of his draft Police and Crime Plan, alongside rural crime.

Funding has already been provided for upgraded CCTV cameras in Chippenham and Swindon as well as four deployable CCTV units in Salisbury, and anti-social behaviour wardens in Salisbury.

Funding was also provided to Swindon Borough Council to employ anti-social behaviour wardens in the town centre and in areas where anti-social behaviour has been identified as a particular issue.

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