'Cold calls' crackdown cuts crime

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A campaign by councils to stop 'cold calling' has led to a sharp drop in doorstep crime, a report has said.

Local councils have set up more 1,000 No Cold Calling Zones in an attempt to get rid of rogue traders, bogus callers and distraction thieves.

A Local Government Association (LGA) report said the typical victim of doorstep crime is aged 81, female and living alone.

The report says the zones stop overall crimes by as much as 80%.

The number of offences such as distraction burglary have fallen even more markedly in some areas, however.

Embarrassment

During 2005/06 there were 12,612 reported incidents of distraction theft, where criminals pretending to be officials such as meter readers or council officers con their way into people's homes before stealing cash or belongings.

Police fear as many as nine out of 10 such offences go unreported because people are too embarrassed to admit they have been fooled - meaning the true amount could be as many as 130,000 such crimes every year.

The LGA said the more than 1,000 No Cold Calling Zones (NCCZ) set up in the last two years cover almost 350,000 households.

The LGA report found:<ul class="bulletList"><li> One long-established zone in Luton has seen reports of rogue traders to trading standards drop by 90%, with all burglaries down 80%.</li>

<li>In Bedfordshire as a whole, distraction thefts have dropped by 27% and domestic burglaries as a whole have dropped by 21%.</li>

<li>In Guildford, distraction thefts within the zones have dropped from 64 in 2005 to just nine in 2006 - a reduction of 86%.</li>

<li>In Cambridgeshire, a county which has more than 50 zones, distraction burglary has dropped by 11% in the first two years since the zones were set up.</li>

<li> No Cold Calling Zones in West Yorkshire have seen overall crime drop by 15%.</li></ul>

Zones are established with the help of local councils as well as the police and community groups such as Neighbourhood Watch.

Anyone can apply for their neighbourhood to become a NCCZ, with £300 grants available to cover the cost of leaflets, stickers and street signs.

We know the whole community is behind this and we are sure it will be a success Wigan resident Elizabeth Wood

Elizabeth Wood, a resident in a cul-de-sac in Wigan, Lancashire which is covered by a NCCZ, says the street has already seen the benefits of such a system.

"So far I have had the confidence to turn away two people who turned up trying to sell me something," she said. "We are really pleased that our area has been chosen to pilot this scheme. We know the whole community is behind this and we are sure it will be a success."

Cllr Hazel Harding, chair of the LGA's Safer Communities board, said: "There is no shame in falling victim to doorstep criminals.

The move has been welcomed by many residents

"These cold-hearted crooks deliberately prey on the elderly and the vulnerable, and if we want to get them off our streets for good, we need the eyes and ears of the whole community.

People mustn't be afraid or embarrassed to say 'no' to cold callers and to report anyone acting suspiciously to their council or the police."

She said most cold callers were nothing more than a nuisance, but that a small minority could pose a real danger to elderly people.