Up to 500 towns to get increased police patrol in 'safer streets blitz'

Shoppers in over 500 towns will see more police patrols as part of a safer streets blitz to tackle crime in town centres and anti-social behaviour.

The Home Office said a summer clampdown on lawlessness includes more policing and ramping up the use of targeted enforcement powers against troublemakers, including banning perpetrators from hotspots.

Matt Vickers MP, Shadow Minister for Crime, Policing, and Fire, said: “Labour are hiding the fact that over 1,800 police jobs are on the chopping block because they failed to fund forces properly. Police chiefs are warning they do not have enough money to retain existing numbers.

“The Conservatives delivered record numbers of police but Labour are now reversing that progress with reckless underfunding and trying to cover it up by reannouncing Conservative schemes as if they’re brand new.“It’s ordinary people who’ll be left dealing with the fallout of Labour’s weakness on crime. ”

Crime in town centres has sky-rocketed with pickpocketing doubling between December 2022 and 2024.

There has also been record levels of shop theft, up by more than 60% - with offenders increasingly using violence and abuse against shopworkers.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “High streets and town centres are the very heart of our communities. Residents and businesses have the right to feel safe in their towns. But the last government left a surge in shop theft, street crime and anti-social behaviour which has left too many town centres feeling abandoned.

“It’s time to turn this round, that’s why I have called on police forces and councils alike to work together to deliver a summer blitz on town centre crime to send a clear message to those people who bring misery to our towns that their crimes will no longer go unpunished. “The fact that 500 towns have signed up shows the strength of feeling on this issue.

“Through our safer streets mission and plan for change, we are putting officers back on the beat where you can see them and making our town centres safe again."

Shop theft and the abuse of shopworkers has become an endemic problem for Britain’s high streets with many shopworkers victimised in the same communities where they live.

The government is set to introduce a new law to protect shop workers from this abuse.