Anti-Social Behaviour across Ashfield reduced by 18% last year it has been announced by Ashfield District Council and Nottinghamshire Police.

The announcement comes amid the introduction of a raft of crime reduction measures aimed at ensuring residents are safer.

Ashfield District Council and its partners have been successful in securing a significant amount of external funding to support the delivery of these measures through various funding sources which has contributed to rates falling across the local area.

During the past year, the council has installed over 15 new cameras and successfully worked with over 40 businesses to develop safe havens across its town centres and neighbourhoods, including Hucknall. Other measures include new street lighting, gating of undesirable alleyways, environmental improvements, youth diversionary activities and the delivery of healthy relationship programmes in schools.

The council along with the police successfully run Operation Springboard, a partnership initiative that carries out weekly hi-visibility patrols that provides reassurance to local residents, and proactively tackles public space anti-social behaviour. The partnership has also delivered a burglary reduction initiative and has secured a higher number of Closure Orders than any other area across Nottinghamshire. 

Over the course of the next year, the council and its partners will be continuing to invest in additional CCTV, support for young people, vulnerable groups and those at risk, and deliver a number of measures to help improve feelings of safety across the district.

Councillor Helen-Ann Smith, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Crime Reduction said: "It is fantastic that anti-social behaviour rates have fallen by 18% compared to last year. This is down to the hard work of Ashfield Councillors, the council, police, and partners working together to deliver initiatives that have a real impact.

"Along with Safer Streets funding, we will continue to deliver initiatives to reduce anti-social behaviour even further. Ashfield District Council is committed to making the district a safer place to live, work and visit.

"As a Council, we are not complacent however and are rolling out a number of initiatives to tackle anti-social behaviour in places like Kirkby, Hucknall, Huthwaite, the Selston Parish, Sutton and Stanton Hill. These latest figures show that working together, we are delivering results that make our communities safer."

Antonio Taylor, Community Safety Manager for Ashfield District Council added: "We have seen real progress over the past year, but we are not resting on our laurels. We know that the anti-social behaviour of a few can have a detrimental impact on our communities and that's why we will be continuing to run dedicated operations and initiatives with our partners to prevent, detect and deter anti-social behaviour across the district."