Police officers in Hucknall are joining forces with shopkeepers to clamp down on thefts and improve public safety.

They are recruiting shopkeepers from the area to take part in a local Shop Watch scheme – and have urged business owners and store staff to come forward and help.

Businesses who sign up to the scheme will be provided with a radio to enable them to talk directly to local officers, and also to council CCTV operators.

They will also be given clear terms of reference on how to report offences in a timely manner and gather and preserve evidence to secure convictions.

Funding for the scheme is being provided by the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner's Safer4All funding stream.

A similar scheme funded by the Safer Streets Fund will soon launch in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, and plans are also in place to revive a previously operational scheme in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

Inspector Jon Hewitt, district commander for Ashfield, said: "This is a tried and tested model used in various parts of the country and I am delighted that we are now able to adopt this approach in Ashfield.

"Retail businesses have had a really tough time during the pandemic and many simply can't afford the costs associated with repeated shoplifting incidents.

"This initiative is all about empowering individual businesses to play a central role in improving the safety and security of everyone in the district.

"Although this scheme is primarily aimed at reducing theft offences, it will also allow us to identify and respond to other criminal and antisocial behaviour in our community.

"If the same individuals are coming to our attention again and again we will explore every option at our disposal to regulate their behaviour – including applying for Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) to ban them (from) our town centres.

"We are close to launching this scheme in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and are currently in the process of recruiting participants in Hucknall.

"I want shop staff to be our eyes and ears in the community and I am confident that together we can make our town centres better and safer places for us all to visit."

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry said: "Team work is one of the best weapons in the fight against crime and Shop Watch is a great example of this in action.

"Empowering business owners to communicate with each other and the police makes them more resilient and able to work together to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour. It also deters would-be shoplifters and trouble-makers as they know these businesses are not an easy target.

"I'm delighted to be able to provide funding for the Shop Watch scheme, as we have seen it work really well in a number of areas across Nottinghamshire."

Businesses interested in taking part in the Shop Watch programme are asked to email their details to [email protected] .