This Is Cheshire

Barricades go up to stop burglars

From the Guardian Series, first published Thursday 10th Mar 2005.

A STRING of back alleys in the West End of Crewe are being gated off in an effort to lock out the vandals and burglars.

The gates are designed to bring some relief to residents terrorised by drunken gangs and drug addicts who congregate in the entries.

Only residents will have keys to the 'climb-proof' 6ft metal gates, 15 of which have already been erected off West Street, with a further 16 alleys to be gated by the end of the month.

Police and community groups have welcomed a borough council decision to sink £15,000 into the security measures.

A further 30 gates will be installed if borough funding is matched by the Government via the Safer Communities Partnership and the Driving Crewe Forward initiative.

The council's Community Safety manager David Burns said that with a double set of gates costing £2,000 the extent of the project depended on future funding.

He added: "While the gates do have an effect on anti-social behaviour, this is something of a side issue.

"The vast amount of burglaries in traditional terraced homes are committed via a rear entry and by cutting off this access we can reduce this number.

"They have proven popular with residents so far but we would like to do a proper analysis and survey when the scheme has been in place for some time."

He said that emergency services would have their own keys to the gates and that public rights of way would not be obstructed.

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