Helen welcomes new Oswestry policing team

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has welcomed news that Oswestry will be given extra police officers to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre.

The Police Commissioner has agreed to set to fund a Town Centre police and community support team in a bid to reduce the problems in the town.

Crime and anti-social behaviour have been a continual issue in Oswestry over the past few years, with residents regularly expressing concern over lack of visible policing. This prompted a public meeting with Helen Morgan MP, Councillor and Mayor Jay Moore, Superintendent Stuart Bill, and Police Commissioner John Campion last year to discuss policing levels.

Helen argued for investment in policing numbers, particularly to target the rise in local anti-social behaviour and combat county lines. She is now welcoming the decision to invest in additional Town Centre policing.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said, “On the doorstep, people in Oswestry regularly express concern about increasing levels of shop-lifting and anti-social behaviour. At last year’s public meeting, residents rightly demanded better, and I fully supported their calls for increased investment in policing levels around Oswestry.

“It is really good to see plans extra police on the ground to combat the issues we’ve seen in Oswestry Town Centre over the past few years, and this is a testament to a lot of hard work and local campaigning.

“I’ll be keeping a close eye on the impact this has, but it is certainly a positive step.”

Oswestry Town Councillor Jay Moore, who was Mayor at the time of the public meeting, added, “Residents in Oswestry, Gobowen, and all of the surrounding villages made themselves very clear at the public meeting last year.

“It was always a mistake to reduce Town Centre policing numbers, and so I’m really pleased to see the Police Commissioner has decided to set up a new team that takes the problem seriously and gets us nearer to where we need to be.

“I’m looking forward to working with the PCC and residents on this, as I know other councillors are too. Getting this right is really important to deliver safer streets both for people in Oswestry, and for the wider area that looks to the town as their hub for local services.”