CROFT Parish Council has been praised for its prevention of unauthorised traveller sites by Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner.

The PCC for Cheshire, John Dwyer, met with members of the parish council at Croft Youth Activity Centre to discuss funding that the council had secured from the PCC's office.

In August 2021, an unauthorised encampment was established near the site which 'caused the local community in Croft a significant amount of distress.'

Since then, the parish council applied for funding that was released by the Police and Crime Commissioner's office which allowed new measures to be installed at the site that would prevent any further incidents.

The Community Action Fund was made available to the parish council, which in turn allowed for the installation of kick-rail barriers around the land.

When he visited the activity centre, Cheshire's PCC was greeted with the news that since the barriers were installed there have been no more incidents like the one in August 2021.

The crime commissioner said: "Preventing and tackling crime is a priority in my Police and Crime Plan, so it’s great to be able to support residents in Croft with a simple crime prevention initiative through my Community Action Fund.

“People expect and deserve to feel safe in their communities.

"I was really pleased to hear from the parish council that the kick rail barriers are delivering peace of mind and a feeling of safety for local residents and I hope this continues to be the case."

The lack of unauthorised encampments in the area means that resources can be directed to other matters of policing, which was welcome news to the PCC.

Councillor Paul Campbell, chair of Croft Parish Council said: “The parish council and people of Croft would like to thank the Police and Crime Commissioner, John Dwyer, for the financial support we received in our work to put in the kick rails and security barrier at CYAC.” 

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