Burglaries in Herefordshire drop to less than one a day

Herefordshire is a safe place - and latest figures from West Mercia Constabulary show that house burglaries in Herefordshire have more than halved over the past four years.

In the last year, police officers in Herefordshire dealt with under 300 burglaries – which equates to less than one a day across the whole county. This is thanks to a range of specialist detection methods used by West Mercia Constabulary, as well a number of awareness campaigns run through Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership.

Chief Superintendent Mark Turner, West Mercia Constabulary’s Divisional Commander and Vice Chair of Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership, said: "The efforts of local organisations, supported by the community, have led to a significant reduction in these serious offences.”

“Where they have occurred, victims can be reassured that West Mercia Constabulary place great emphasis on finding the offender, allocating specialists to each and every offence and employing a wide variety of methods to detect them.”

“Herefordshire IS a safe place - with the help of the people in the county and other local partner agencies we aim to keep it that way".

Summer is now upon us, and one of the ways that you can help keep Herefordshire a safe place is to be aware of the opportunities that the warm weather might present to potential burglars. Consider the following:

• Don't leave windows open at the front if you are in the back garden, and vice versa, or when you are out of the house
• Consider getting window stay locks that allow you to open the window a little but lock it in place
• Don't leave windows open above flat roofs that you cannot see
• Don't leave valuables on window sills or near an open window
• Report all suspicious activity to police as soon as possible