Police confirm recent spate of vehicle crime in Hucknall has decreased following evening patrols and arrest of suspects

Police have issued a statement on social media informing the public of the progress made in cracking down on car crime in Hucknall.

In recent weeks there has been a spate of break-ins to, and theft from, vehicles across the town.

Now, in a statement posted to Ashfield Police's Facebook page, Inspector Jon Hewitt, local district commander for Ashfield, confirmed that arrests had been made which for now seems to have coincided with a downturn in incidents.

The statement began: "Hucknall Residents We (and I know you were!) were aware of an increase in theft from Motor vehicles in the area recently. We have now arrested and seen suspects go to court and thankfully incidents appear to have decreased dramatically."

However, he warned against complacency and urged residents to continue to report crime to enable the police to have as full a picture of what is happening in the area as possible.

The statement continued: "Of course we will stay vigilant incase (sic) there is a further upturn and would ask residents to do the same. If you are aware of incidents please make sure they are reported as we are 'data driven' which means we will focus our efforts where we think they are needed most.

"I appreciate residents were concerned they were not seeing officers but I can assure residents Hucknall was one of my priority areas to be patrolled and any reports progressed as quick as we could. Sometimes somewhat frustrating (sic) I cannot share all our tactics with you for fear the people we are trying to catch will see them, of course this may lead to residents thinking there is a lack of action.

"High visibility patrols are great for reassuring the public because you see us but sometimes not so good for catching criminals who similarly can see us and disappear into the darkness on hearing a car in the middle of the night. Please rest assured officers were patrolling in plain clothes on foot (quieter!) and in unmarked vehicles whilst we sought offenders. We were also deploying other tactics which I cannot talk to you about for the same reasons as above.

"I hope this gives residents some reassurance that we were working hard to resolve the issue, I appreciate the frustrations when we do not resolve them as quickly as we would all hope, but to get evidence to the standards required to prove beyond all reasonable doubt we have to ensure our investigations meet the standards required. Kind Regards Inspector Jon Hewitt."