Your neighbourhood 

Ascot neighbourhood update

Update for March

The latest update from Sgt Colin Pike:

• Burglary dwelling

During the period from 13 January to 1 February 2010, I’m sad to say that we have had seven burglaries. Three of these have been “Op Vamoose” burglaries, where offenders have taken the occupant’s vehicle having found the car keys inside the house. More concerning is that one of the burglaries was through an insecure/faulty door. One of the stolen vehicles has been recovered in Iver. Two suspects were arrested for burglary this month and are at present going through the criminal justice system. Please help us by helping yourself and make sure that you secure all windows and doors when you’re not at home and at night, and please keep your house and car keys locked away safely. Do not leave keys by the front door where they can be easily accessed.

• Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour continues to be an issue in and around Ascot and Sunningdale railway stations, often involving youths travelling from Windsor and Slough using the rail network. Typically these ‘outsiders’ have been intimidating local youths, making a nuisance of themselves at local venues and causing damage at Ascot taxi rank.

We are also starting to see numerous incidents involving the anti-social use of vehicles in and around High Street, Ascot, and in local car parks. This includes vehicles doing hand brake turns and playing loud music on their stereo etc. Please contact us if you suffer this type of anti-social behaviour. If you can supply vehicle registrations and types of vehicle that would be of great help too, as there is legislation available for us to use to combat this type of behaviour.

• Speeding and parking

The Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) continues to produce significant data on vehicle volumes and speeds on selected roads using equipment purchased for the purpose. To date, only two roads have shown excess speeding, namely Sunninghill Road South from the mini-roundabout towards the village and Kennel Ride. A petition for traffic calming measures and a crossing to be introduced on Sunninghill Road, near Kingswick Drive, has been presented to the Royal Borough and is awaiting a decision. NAG members will also run a petition in Kennel Ride. Speeding data for many roads is now readily available to residents on the NAG website (http://www.ascotnag.com).

• Other news

A new Neighbourhood Watch has now been set up in Pembroke Close, Sunninghill. The quarterly meeting of the Ascot Neighbourhood Watch Association is to take place on Wednesday 21 April at WI Hall, Broomhall, Sunningdale, at 7.30pm.

The weekly police surgery at Broomhall Recreation Ground, Sunningdale, takes place every Wednesday afternoon between 2pm and 4pm. PCSO Rebecca Harris is available to discuss your concerns.

PCSO Melita Diprose holds a beat surgery on the first and last Wednesday of each month. Here are the forthcoming dates/locations:

•Wednesday 24 February at the old council offices (to rear of banks) in High Street, Ascot, from 7pm to 8.30pm.

Note: The first beat surgery of the month (first Wednesday) is a morning surgery at South Ascot School. The second one (last Wednesday of each month) is an evening surgery at the old council offices.

• Community messaging

We urge everyone to sign up to the Thames Valley community messaging system to get information about crime in your neighbourhood from Thames Valley Police direct to your mailbox or telephone. You can do this by simply logging onto: http://www.tvpcommunitymessaging.org.

• Contact us

The neighbourhood policing team can be contacted via the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505. In an emergency dial 999. If you have information about crime or anti-social behaviour in your area but you don’t want to speak to police, please call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

• Have your say

If you would like to have your say about what the policing priorities should be for the forthcoming year, please fill in an online survey, which can be accessed via the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F2LYG3S

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