Christmas crime prevention advice from Cheddar's PCSOs

Hello from your local PCSOs!

For those of you who have not yet met us, we are both fairly new to the beat, having only joined the role since the start of the pandemic, so it's been a little more difficult than it usually would to get to know the communities that we serve during the various stages of lockdown.

We are looking forward to being able to integrate properly as things go back to "normal", but until then let me just give you an idea of what your local Neighbourhood Policing Team looks like.

There are two PCSOs currently based at Cheddar. There is myself, PCSO 7406 Becky Smith and my colleague PCSO 7712 Lisa Steele.

There are also two beat managers who cover our beat - PC 0344 Dominic Bryant and PC 3375 Nick Thorne, although the PCs parade from Burnham-on-Sea rather than Cheddar.

Between us we cover the whole of Sedgemoor North East, which includes the parishes of Cheddar, Axbridge, Compton Bishop, Weare, Badgworth, Mark, Chapel Allerton, Wedmore, Shipham and everywhere in between.

The neighbourhood team deal with ongoing issues in the area, and we work various shifts between 7am and midnight, but when none of us are on duty you are still covered by the Bridgwater or Burnham response teams and they work a 24-hour shift pattern. They deal with emergencies and serious incidents.

Just a gentle reminder from us as Christmas draws closer, that there a few small steps you can take to stop thieves from spoiling your festivities:

• Keep windows and doors locked, even if you are at home.
• If you're out in the evenings, use timer switches for lamps to make it look like someone is home, and set your burglar alarm if you have one.
• If you are planning on going elsewhere on Christmas Day, ask a trusted neighbour or friend to keep an eye on your home.
• Do not leave presents on view near windows or in the car.
• Don't advertise your new household items by displaying the boxes outside for the rubbish collection. Where possible take boxes to the tip, or break them up before putting them in the recycling.
• Security mark property and register it on www.immobilise.com.