Dispute over street patrol costs

Rows have broken out over the cost of private street patrols in Wigan.
A dispute has broken out about private patrols in a Wigan communityA dispute has broken out about private patrols in a Wigan community
A dispute has broken out about private patrols in a Wigan community

Disputes surrounding the infrastructure and funding of community patrols in Abram has boiled over into heated debates.

Wigan Today revealed in January that some residents had taken it upon themselves to monitor the streets after a spate of burglaries.

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They had vented their frustration at low police presence and response times, and claimed that their own patrols had led to eight arrests over the Christmas period.

Now some of the villagers have hit out at each other in arguments over the financial and organisational red tape.

Messages passed onto Wigan Today reveal suggestions by Abram community members that residents could pitch in a weekly or monthly contribution to fund a full-time night team to guard their streets.

But this escalated into quarrels over the logistics of such contributions - primarily how much should be paid, who by and who to.

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Confusion also stemmed for far ranging estimations of £1 a week to £1 a month - from up to 6,000 homes in the area - to fund vehicles, uniforms and cameras. One person calculated that such amounts could only fund a four man team, which would have to work 12 hour shifts at minimum wage.

Anybody with information about crimes in the area should contact police on 0161 856 7124 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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