A SUCCESSFUL meeting of Knaphill residents addressed by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey and the police borough commander, could lead to regular similar gatherings across Woking.

The meeting at Knaphill Baptist Church on Monday evening was organised by borough councillor Melanie Whitehand and attended by more than 40 residents who heard presentations from David Munro, the PCC, and Detective Inspector Andy Greaves.

Topics discussed included a perceived increase in anti-social behaviour and burglaries in the area.

The PCC said that the police neighbourhood teams would be doubled in size after the increase in the police precept part of the 2019/20 council tax.

“People say they don’t see enough officers and the reason is that there aren’t enough of them because we haven’t got the money to pay for them.

“One of our aims is to get back on the streets with the resources we’ve got. Antisocial behaviour is sometimes called a low-level crime but it isn’t low level at all to people who suffer it.”

DI Greaves said a good way of dealing with youths causing disruption to residents and businesses was for the local authority to issue a public space protection order. This order could then be enforced if breached, as the police had to follow a process, especially when dealing with children.

For the full story get the 7 March edition of the News & Mail - for more on tackling knife crime, see the 14 March edition available this Thursday