Oswestry is among the towns seeing new dedicated town centre policing teams, with officers hitting the beat this week.

Ten teams were introduced in locations across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire this week, with the key aim to tackle town centre matters like retail crime and shoplifting, while working closely with businesses in the areas.

Assistant Chief Constable Grant Wills explained: “We know the public want to see police officers in the heart of their communities; our town centre teams will increase our police presence in some of our busiest cities and towns.

“The new teams will focus on preventing crimes prevalent in town and city centres such as shoplifting and retail crime.

“Officers will work closely with local shops and businesses to take preventative steps against the crimes which impact on them the most.

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“They will take ownership of shoplifting investigations where a shoplifter has been detained and take a problem-solving approach to longer-term issues.”

Mr Wills added: “Most of our town and city centres have a vibrant nightlife and our town centre teams will work with licensed premises to help ensure a safe night out for everyone.”

The chosen locations for the teams were decided based on public demand, considering population size and footfall.

The new teams will work with and support the already established safer neighbourhood teams.

Mr Wills added: “It’s vital our officers are where they need to be and when to help prevent crime and reassure our communities whether in our cities and towns, or villages in our more rural locations which continue to be covered by our existing safer neighbourhood teams.

“Right across our three counties, crime continues to fall and more crimes are solved than ever before and our new teams will help in our crime fighting efforts.”

Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion funded these new teams from the 2024/25 budget.

Mr Campion said: “I have listened to, acted on and now delivered on calls from the public to ensure our town centres have dedicated policing teams.

“Local shops and businesses form the lifeblood of our communities, and through my investment, these first-of-a-kind teams will be visible and accessible whilst driving down crime and working closely with retailers to tackle their concerns.”

These teams will be phased into individual towns over the coming weeks.