Traders, police and councillors held a meeting in Lindley to discuss growing concerns over crime, vandalism and anti-social behaviour in the village.

The meeting at Lindley Tap Bar & Grill was attended by Lindley Liberal Democrat councillors Cahal Burke and Anthony Smith, as well as local businesses, neighbourhood police and community safety officers.

The village has had problems before and reports of smash-and-grab burglaries, vandalism, noise nuisance, verbal abuse and threatening behaviour are said to be on the rise again.

Clr Burke said: “We set up the meeting following concerns from local businesses around commercial burglaries and anti-social behaviour.

“We would like to thank Lindley Tap and Terry for accommodating us and thank everyone who attended.

“It was vital to hear from the local businesses, who were able to share information and share their experiences. This information will be helpful in ensuring that the police and local agencies can use their resources in the most effective way.

“We know that anti-social behaviour can plague communities and can cause alarm and distress. This wasn’t a one-off meeting.

“We aim to meet on a regular basis while the issue remains. We want to get to the root of the problem and take action to help stop it.”

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Fellow ward councillor Anthony Smith said: “We feel that it was a hugely productive meeting. Issues were discussed and there were clear outcomes.

“We are committed to keeping our area safe and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. We strongly believe that this is best achieved through a partnership, multi-agency approach, so the aim is to work together to help prevent it. Meeting local agencies and partners face-to-face was enormously helpful.

“Our local businesses are the heartbeat of our communities, so when businesses suffer from burglaries and anti-social behaviour, this also has an impact on the local community.

“It’s vital that we support and protect our local businesses and the wider community by taking action to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

“The public can play their part in crime prevention and helping to bring offenders to justice by being vigilant and reporting suspicious incidents.”

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