Funding secured to improve safety at anti-social hotspot in Rugby

Funding has been secured to improve safety around St Andrew’s Church in Rugby

The area is one of four places in Warwickshire that will benefit from a pot of more than £350,000.

The money, from the Home Office Safer Streets Fund, was secured by Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe.

He said it will be targeted at areas which have been identified through public feedback and intelligence data as suffering from issues such as violent crime, personal robbery, sexual assaults, drugs misuse, County Lines activity and anti-social behaviour.

The Commissioner’s application to the Safer Streets fund for a total of £354,010 was approved in full and will be delivered alongside a further £197,842 which has been committed by partners for associated projects to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

As well as the area around St Andrew’s Church, the other three areas chosen are:

- Stubbs Pool and the Dingle, Nuneaton

- Eagle Recreational Ground, Leamington

- Recreation ground and Railway Station, Stratford-upon-Avon.

The money could be spent on CCTV cameras, lighting improvements, the removal or management of vegetation and installation of physical barriers.

Safety and awareness campaigns will also be run in each of the areas to address local concerns and a Safer Streets Officer will be appointed to engage with local communities.

It is the second time in the space of a year that the county has received Safer Streets funding. Last October the Government awarded £249,000 for improvements in other areas of the county that women and girls had highlighted as making them feel unsafe.

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: “I welcome the news of this additional funding that has been secured through my office for the second time in under a year. It will allow community safety partners to make some meaningful improvements in parts of our county that sadly have been blighted by serious crime and anti-social behaviour in the recent past. It also helps to further strengthen the approach to tackling violence against women and girls.

“By working with the local communities in the areas concerned, we want to ensure that each project is as effective as possible at reducing the problems residents have told us about."

“In turn, we want to raise the confidence of communities that these areas are safe places for everyone to enjoy, while sending a parallel message that crime and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.”