Traders back calls for borough's own cops

Inderdeep Bains • Published 27 Feb 2009 13:00 0 Comments

BUSINESSES in Windsor, fed up with anti-social behaviour and crime, are supporting a petition calling on the Royal Borough to fund their own police force.

A number of traders are collecting signatures for the petition which calls on the borough to withdraw taxes paid to Thames Valley Police and set up a force dedicated to the local area.

Jaswinder Samra, owner of the Royal Supermarket in St Leonards Road, has alone collected over 100 signatures. He said: "The police presence here is non-existant. A lot of the time you call them they don't show up and this has been going on for over 10 years. We get youngsters and drunks causing problems and there is no help."

"We are having to pay our taxes but we don't get back what we pay for. If there was a police presence things would be different. Everyone around here knows there is no police and the station is closed half the time."

Hardev Chohan of King Neptune Fish and Chip in St Leonards Road is also supporting the petition. He said: "We are paying for a service and we don't ever see any police. It would be reassuring to see a uniformed presence in the area."

Another supporter includes Saunders Pharmacy, which had a window smashed on Friday night causing around £400 worth of damage. Gary Jones said: "If we had regular patrols at key times like Friday and Saturday nights people would be less likely to cause trouble."

The 500 strong petition has been launched by George Bathurst, a member of the Windsor Conservatives, who claims borough tax payers' money is being spent in towns like Slough.

The petition, which will be presented to the council, calls on the borough to use powers supplied by the Sustainable Communities Act to reclaim taxes paid to Thames Valley Police and use them to fund their own police service.

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This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 27 Feb 09

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