Bideford: a no-go town at night?

Councillors claim crime is higher than reported

North Devon’s police chief is to get a grilling from councillors soon who claim low crime statistics are masking the real problem of anti-social behaviour in Bideford.

Torridge District Councillors say people are so fed up with the 101 phone system that they have given up informing the police of crimes.

Superintendent Toby Davies, local commander for North and West Devon, will discuss issues of concern with councillors at a community safety partnership meeting on Thursday 9 November.

A Torridge licensing committee meeting this week heard that the public toilets on the quay were closed from 6pm because of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and drug paraphernalia left there.

The issue had been raised by taxi drivers parked at the nearby rank at night.

And Cllr Philip Pennington (Ind, Monkleigh and Putford) said he had not been into Bideford at night for eight years because of fights in the street.

“The last time I came in was for my wife’s sixtieth birthday and there were fights all the way down Cooper Street. The night-time economy needs to be addressed because I am not coming here with the amount of ASB that goes on.

“We need to ask the police and the partnership what is happening with Bideford as it is not somewhere you want to go after 6pm.”

He said the amount council taxpaters pay for police keeps going up year on year, yet the services are “getting less and less.”

Committee chairman Chris Bright ( Lib Dem, Great Torrington) said he had got reached the point of emailing incidents to police officers direct as the 101 service was so bad. “They know of the issues in Torridge but they are not being logged because the system is completely inadequate on all levels,” he told the meeting.

Cllr Stephen Harding (Con, Hartland) said his daughter’s car had been broken into but she gave up reporting it as the 101 number rang and rang and there was no-one at the police station.

“PCSOs (police community support officers) are myth in the sticks, they do not come to our meetings, I’m not happy with the police, they are not worth the money.”

Cllr Wendy Lovell (Green, Northam) said it was not good enough to say the toilets were shut because of vandalism and “shrug our shoulders”.

“We would get upset if people were peeing in shop doorways or in the park. The problem needs addressing, whether that is lighting the toilets or more police patrols.”

The council’s head of legal and governance Staci Dorey said different lighting had been installed at the toilets to make it difficult for people to use drugs but no-one wanted to go there or take their children in because of what had been found.

She said Bideford had lost out on Safer Streets funding for extra police patrols because its crime statistics were not high enough. Nearby Barnstaple had secured funding and ASB has gone down by 30 per cent.

At a recent Devon and Cornwall police and crime panel meeting in Plymouth police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez said she was aware of all problems around the 101 service and improvements were being made.