Anti-social behaviour has been slashed by nearly half in a Huddersfield community in the first year of a major programme to improve life there.
Kirklees Police has detailed the success of Unity: Shape Up Clear Hold Build in Ashbrow on its first anniversary.
Since launching the scheme in November 2024, police have carried out 11 days of action, made 119 arrests and executed 15 warrants as part of investigations into criminal activity in and around Brackenhall, Deighton, Bradley, Birkby and Fartown.
Over 600 cannabis plants have been seized with a further £8,000-worth of class A and B drugs taken off the streets.
Reports of anti-social behaviour in Ashbrow in November 2025 were also down by 47% from the levels recorded in the same month in 2024.
The illegal use of vehicles and poor driving generally has also been a focus for officers, with roads policing operations resulting in 74 vehicles seized for no insurance, including off road bikes being used in an anti-social manner.
Unity: Shape Up launched in late November 2024 with the first of three days of action in quick succession intended to make a quick impact in the area.
The days focused on enforcement action to locate wanted suspects, drugs warrants and disruption of known offenders.
Officers joined forces with West Yorkshire Trading Standards on the third day of action in January to visit four stores suspected of selling illegal goods.
The operation resulted in the seizure of over 400 packets of illicit cigarettes, 30 pouches of illicit hand rolling tobacco, over 1,900 illegal oversized disposable vapes and over 100 pouches of illicit Shisha tobacco. The overall value of the goods seized was estimated at £35,000.
Partnership work also included clean ups of three pocket parks, drug and alcohol outreach work and housing visits.
Clear, Hold, Build itself is an innovative framework, developed by the Home Office, to help police forces tackle serious and organised crime and boost public confidence.
Chief Insp Rebecca Calpin, of Kirklees District Police, said: “Unity Shape Up was designed for Ashbrow and named by children in Ashbrow and, since its launch last year, has had a real impact in the community.
“We know this both through the crime statistics and the feedback residents have been providing to our dedicated officers.
“It is really good news, in particular, that anti-social behaviour has dropped to almost half the level it was 12 months ago.
“This sort of offending can really make life a misery day to day for those who witness and suffer it, so sustained falls in anti-social behaviour really do bode well for the future.”
She added: “While a substantial amount of ‘enforcement’ policing has been conducted to cut crime levels, that work can only have a lasting effect if it is twinned with social improvements in the infrastructure of Ashbrow and opportunities for people there.
“Partners in Unity: Shape Up have been really active over the last 12 months to improve spaces and offer communities support with education, employment, housing and general health.
“As we now move to the ‘Build’ phase of Clear, Hold, Build in 2026 it is this long term investment which will be key to making the most of the gains we’ve made so far.”
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