Press releases

No cold-calling zone stops distraction burglaries

Street's no cold-calling zone looks set to become a permanent fixture.

The pilot scheme was hailed as a success following this week's Street Parish Council meeting, with no reported cases of distraction burglaries during the six-month trial period.

Last year PC Andy Leafe spearheaded the initiative to halt the rise in distraction burglaries in the Street area.

He proposed that Street be made a no cold-calling zone, effectively stopping anyone from receiving an unexpected visitor who could be distracting them on the doorstep while someone else slips in through a back door to steal money or other items.

In other parts of the UK, roads had been designated no cold-calling, but this was the first time a whole community had been zoned.

Operation Fox was launched in the summer, with residents being encouraged to contact the police if they saw anyone making house-to-house calls.

Now, after six months, the scheme has been hailed a success and a proposal is being put forward to make it permanent.

During the trial period, the police control room received 25 calls from residents regarding cold-callers, with police attending every time and one arrest being made.

"This would involve new signage being put up at the entry points to Street explaining that the whole village is a no cold-calling zone," said PC Andy Leafe, Crime Reduction Officer for the Wells Sector.

"The Office of Fair Trading questioned the legality of the schemes, however we are looking into the idea of producing door or window stickers saying 'Doorstep callers welcome' for those who want to encourage cold-callers to their houses."

Cllr Copping asked if there were plans to introduce permits for some salesmen.

"I think it would be hard to manage," said PC Leafe.

"The scheme does not stop people from leaving flyers, leaflets or catalogues - but if we produce a permit there is nothing to stop people from forging them or creating fake permits. A vulnerable person will be taken in by a fake permit - I would prefer things to continue as they have been."

The council decided to defer on making the scheme permanent until they have some quotes for the costs of new signs, with the scheme continuing to run until a decision on its permanence is reached.

The high profile burglary that took place in Wilfrid Road last week was a walk-in burglary.

Back to 'Press releases' main menu