HAT and hoodie wearers will face a crackdown on wearing the fashionable garments inside shops in a new initiative that will sweep across Warrington.

In a move that has already been successful for other areas in the north west, shops will get the chance to display posters advising people to remove their hats, hoodies and helmets before entering any shop.

Shop assistants can then choose whether to serve anyone who is still wearing a hat or hoodie.

The scheme was set to start in Whitecross but has created such an impact it will instead be rolled out across the town.

The initiative is only one of the features of the new Whitecross Shop Watch scheme that will link all shops in the area together in a similar scheme to that used in the town centre.

Each shop will have a list of contact details for other shops in the area and details to get in touch with Cheshire Police should they need to.

Community Support Officer Kath Harkin: "You are unable to identify offenders on CCTV when they're wearing hoods.

"It's also intimidating to people who work in shops. The scheme is a way to reduce the fear of crime."

The Shop Watch scheme is only one of a number of new ideas that will be rolling out across Whitecross including additional School Watch and Pub Watch schemes.

Police will target schools in the area during the summer holidays to try to combat criminal damage that has plagued schools in recent months.

The watch will also have signs rotated in different positions around the schools warning trespassers that they face prosecution.

The Pub Watch scheme, which is currently in the early stages of planning, would be like the one currently running across Warrington town centre.

The initiative, which has already had a positive response from licensees, would include spot checks on pubs and off licences that were selling to under age drinkers.