Purse Thefts Plunge During Christmas Campaign

PURSE thefts fell by nearly 40 per cent following a major Christmas crime crackdown in Loughborough Town Centre.

Charnwood Borough Council raised crime prevention awareness and gave out purse alarms as part of its four-week ‘Be A Grinch, Make It Hard to Pinch’ campaign which ran throughout December.

New figures have revealed the number of thefts in the town centre fell from 13 in 2010 to eight in 2011.

The Council also recorded a massive 115 per cent increase in demand for purse alarms, giving out 2,152 devices compared to 1,000 the year before.

As part of the campaign, Council officers dressed a crook and a victim in a town centre demonstration of the purse alarms, enrolled an ex-offender to give ‘insider’ tips on deterring criminals and even unleashed a Grinch to give out alarms.

Charnwood Councillor David Snartt, Chairman of the Charnwood Community Safety Partnership, said: “These results are absolutely terrific and demonstrate what an amazing impact our high profile campaign has had on raising awareness and deterring crime.

“I’d like to thank shoppers and residents for taking up our offer of free purse alarms, the media for publicising our campaign so widely and to council and police officers for going that extra mile to promote it.

“It has all helped make Loughborough Town Centre a safer place to shop, work and visit. We will continue to work with our partners in the police and businesses to help the town thrive.”

Sergeant Julian Lester, Neighbourhood Beat Manager for Loughborough Town Centre, said: “This was a great example of agencies working together to reduce crime. I was surprised at how popular the alarms were and the response from the public was fantastic.”

Eye-catching posters and leaflets were also distributed in the town centre to raise the profile of the campaign.