No increase in town crime level

POLICE have revealed that crime in Topsham has stayed at the same level as last year. Residents were updated on crime figures, crime patterns and the latest news from local councillors Rob Newby and Mark Starling at a Topsham meeting.

Figures released at the Partners and Communities Together meeting showed Topsham had been the victim to 120 crimes since 2007.

PC Iain Jeffery said: "Although crime has stayed at the same levels it is still the lowest in Exeter, due to continuous vigilance in the community and people reporting crimes and incidents.

"The public have helped us several times with crime appeals by providing information and we hope they can continue to help."

The police said that the problem with Topsham was that it had such good transport links, so was seen as an easy target by people from Exeter and Exmouth.

Councillor Rob Newby also reassured residents he was still patrolling the Topsham streets with the police on Friday and Saturday nights.

He said: "This is a safe city - we are very trusting and criminals can take advantage of that, but we are happy to work alongside the police."

The police also revealed they would be launching a cycle scheme in January to educate cyclists in the area.

They will be teaming up with Devon County Council and patrolling the Topsham area to give advice to cyclists on the proper paths to be used and talking about safety issues to reduce the number of accidents.

Councillor Mark Starling updated the residents on his work at Exeter City Council, including the need to keep a close eye on the money the city council had temporarily lost through its deposits in the Icelandic banks.

He said he would be keeping a close watch on retrieving the £13,000 which was promised to Topsham for a ferry boat for bicycles but withdrawn by the city council due to the problems with the Icelandic banks.

The next PACT meeting will be held on February 19 at 6.30pm at Matthews Hall.