The Buzz from the Bizz - Farringdon Village News

August 2010

Maybe consult your window cleaner first! - "plant shrubs of a defensive nature under windows to prevent access to your home, thorny bushes, roses, pyracanthus etc".
One of several recommendations on Home Security. The others are common sense, but further information is on www.hampshire.police.uk.

From the latest updates, recent local crime is going on all around us, but not in Farringdon, touch wood. Filchering fingers have filched garden tools and machinery, an ornamental gate, another staddlestone, half a tank of domestic oil and a catalytic converter taken from a car in a hotel car park. Forced access in Froyle, a quad bike stolen in Alton, and tarmac cold callers in Binstead. A white flatbed truck registration Y258BOA is suspected to be involved in rural crime. Three men have been convicted of night poaching at Ashley Warren.

The police suggest it helps to identify and return stolen items to their rightful owners, if we photo valuables and equipment, and record serial numbers, make, model or useful description.

There is a downside to recycling - bins often include utility bills and other papers giving personal details - gold dust to ID thieves. If bank or credit card statements fail to arrive at the usual time, we may be sharing our identity with a thief who has had our mail redirected to his address. Time to check with the bank.

Following the discovery recently of illegal drugs being manufactured in a very ordinary house, in a very ordinary street, in a very ordinary neighbourhood, Hampshire Police can give us a Presentation on Drug Factories. If you are interested, please let me, or your nearby NHW co-ordinator know.

All the above are from notices and warnings from the police, Trading Standards and similar sources sent to Neighbourhood Watch Organisations.

Iain Ross
Co-ordinator - Tel: 588349

Date: 5thJuly 2010

If you are reading this, you may be one of 7.9 million households in 179,000 groups supported by Neighbourhood and Home Watch across England and Wales, website www.mynhw.co.uk.. You should also, receive the occasional alert, warning etc through our Farringdon Watch. These can come from the police, EHDC, other local watches, or individuals reporting an incident. They are emailed on to volunteer co-ordinators around the village, who will pass them on to you, if you wish. At the risk of being repetitive, if you are not hearing from us but want to, please contact your local volunteer co-ordinator, or myself.

Admittedly there has been little to pass on recently. The last incident in my records was in March, and the previous one in January. Of course this is how we like it, although there may have been some incidents which have not been reported. The weekly update of local crime from Jacqui Walker at Alton Police is mainly about thefts from sheds and gardens - tools, a bicycle and a quad bike, and 6,000 litres of diesel from a farm storage tank. A suspected thief has been arrested near Alice Holt Forest, on the edge of our rural beat area, two at Owlesbury and a couple more at Cordridge trying to steal a car. Trading Standards continue to remind us of dubious characters engaging in leaflet dropping, offers to tarmac drives or lay paving, jobs on the roof or in gardens, etc. Check with the Quick Response Team if in doubt.

And Cold Calling! A (legitimate) outfit called Direct Response Security have been targeting our area with aggressive sales. They have now offered to 'bar' (odd way to phrase it) anyone's telephone number from their cold calling list if they should so wish. If anyone wants to avail this, let your local co-ordinator know, and a consolidated list will be sent to Sue Gibson of Hampshire Police, for her to forward (with no names) to DRS.

Finally, Simon Theobalds of Crimewatchers in this area, reports a 20% increased response leading to a 63% increase in arrests, - 900 detections - 3 cases cleared up for every 5 calls - 6 arrests a week at £130 per arrest, apparently good value for money. If you want to know more, don't ask me. Visit their website.

Iain Ross
Co-ordinator - Tel: 588349
Telephone numbers
Emergency only - 999
Non emergency - 0845 045 45 45 or 101
Quick Response Team - 01962 833666 ( for rogue traders)
Crime Stoppers - 0800 555111

HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY - Independent Advisory Groups

Hampshire Constabulary is now recruiting members of the community for Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs) across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, to help us develop a better understanding of local communities.

Each Policing, Operational Command Unit (OCUs 1 - 6) will have their own IAG, which will consider local issues, including impact of critical incidents and decisions around force policy and procedures. There will also be a force level IAG, which will consider strategic issues affecting the whole organisation, such as hate crime and knife crime.

Who can apply to be an IAG member? We want people from the community who don't work for, or are not linked to the police in any way. We're looking for people who do not have access to the police in a formal role or for a political motive because they already have access to channels that let them have their say on policing.

We want people who are willing to attend regular meetings to discuss policing and other related issues - seeking fairness and equality for all whatever the subject matter.

The big drive: In total we are looking to recruit more than 100 volunteer members (max 15 per group) and we can’t meet this target without your help. We've started a recruitment campaign, using local radio stations and websites. If you know of anyone that would be suited to this role, please forward the link to the IAG recruitment page on our website: www.hampshire.police.uk/Internet/jobs/Independent+Advisory+Group.htm. You can download the latest promotional material and apply to become a member here.

A variety of postcards and posters will be delivered by Safer Neighbourhood teams and available at beat surgery or events where there may be potential volunteers – this could be outside schools, posted in shop windows and in pubs. Closing date is April 23rd.

If you would like more information, please e-mail

ANTI LITTER CAMPAIGN - STOP THE DROP - Volunteers needed

CPRE, the "Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England", (Hampshire), has set up a pilot project in some parishes, including Farringdon, aimed at reducing fly tipping, (and litter). With the Environment Agency, EHDC, NFU and the Country Land and Business Association, and part funded by the South Downs National Park, the project is set to run for a year, to gather information and establish best practice for reporting fly tipping.

The project is designed to deter and prevent fly tipping, and prosecute offenders. This requires information gathering by a network of volunteers, who are willing to report fly tipping whenever they see it while out and about. Reporting can be done by email, or by pre-printed and pre-paid postcards. There will be a phone line for live or emergency incidents. Reports will go to the Crime Team at the Environmental Agency and to EHDC for statistics and action.

Volunteer fly-spotters are needed to help stop the litter bugs and create a cleaner countryside (hopefully before visitors arrive for the Olympics), so if you feel you can join, please contact Becky French, CPRE Hants, email stopthedrop@cprehampshire.org.uk or on 01962 779185.

Post script - Come to a local CPRE meeting to see how much it does for your countryside. For more information visit the CPRE website

Date: 11 July 2009

We should be wary of tempting fate, but nefarious activity seems to have bypassed our parish over the last five months, although there have been burglaries in nearby villages. Apart from some anti-social behaviour, careless driving by a white van and damage to some gate locks, there is nothing to report. If we have missed something, please remember to alert your neighbourhood watch of any incident as well as contacting the police.

Out in the wicked world however, warnings of scams, rogue traders and cold callers continue to come from HCC Trading Standards and the police. These tricksters can be persistent, aggressive, wear uniform, purport to represent a charity, and constantly devise imaginative ways to get into our homes and bank accounts. Although this has all been said often enough before, Sue Gibson, Police Co-ordinator for Hampshire Neighbourhood Watch Assoc', asks us to remind everyone again. According to the Office of Fair Trading, £3.5 billion a year is lost through scams, 1 in 20 of us are still being deceived by well practised fraudsters.

Con artists may knock at the door and ask for a glass of water, or to use the toilet. Advice - smile and shut the door. (neighbourliness is our motto, but -) We're also advised to ensure our home looks occupied when on holiday, and avoid showing an address on luggage labels. Particularly prevalent apparently, are tiny cameras that can be fitted at cash machines overlooking the keypads, so we should shield the keys with one hand while dialling our PIN number with the other, (while the shopping bag that had to be put down on the ground is being stolen).

Details of spurious callers should be passed to Trading Standards at 01962 833620. Anyone feeling threatened should call the Quick Response Team, 01962 833666.

Some wunderkind has proposed an ingenious way to foil burglars by planting thorny bushes below windows. You should consult your window cleaner first.

Do You Have A Mobile Phone?
Something else from Hampshire NWA - it seems that most mobile phone owner's names and addresses have been placed in a 'public directory' by 118800.co.uk. When a caller asks for someone by name, 118800.co.uk will text the person with the callers details. Anyone can opt out of this service at 118800.co.uk (Note:This website is shut down for "development work" today (11/07/09), some cynics might suggest the site has been overloaded by requests to go ex directory. Keep trying, there is at present no indication when the "Remove Me" pages will be restored. Webmaster

Date: 26 August 2008

We have received the following from Crimestoppers:

On Saturday 27th September Hampshire Constabulary are challenging twenty other police forces in a sailing race round the Isle of Wight to raise money for Crimestoppers. The event has been organised - and paid for - by Cap Gemini to mark the charity's 20th anniversary.

Crimestoppers nationally receives some 200 calls a day from people wanting the protection of anonymity with actionable information which is passed to the police. This results in an average of seventeen arrests every day of the year with a murderer being arrested every five days. The one millionth actionable call was received on at 4.30am 24th July.

The Hampshire and IOW board was set up in 2005 and has just marked its second fully documented year. Calls are up 20% to 1,777 and arrests from those calls up 29% to 240.

The website www.crimestoppers-uk.org provides much more information including details of the very successful Most Wanted site which is used by Hampshire more than any other force and the recently launched site ShadowCS which is being heavily used by young people.

You can donate on line by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/capgeminisailingchallenge-hampshire

All the money raised by each force can be seen on this site. UK tax payers will automatically have their tax added. Thank you for reading this. I hope you can help.

Best wishes, Simon Theobalds

We have been asked to circulate the following:

Dear All,

I have been made aware of another round of scam emails which are purporting to be from Financial Institutions. Trading Standards have a department for this and would like to be made aware.

Should you receive a scam email or one where you are not sure if it actually from your bank/building society please in the first instance tell your own bank/building Society and pass the email to them in order that they can also address the situation and then pass the email on to Trading Standards on:scamnesty@hants.gov.uk

Calypso Cay Resort

We have been alerted to a holiday scam operated by Calypso Cay Resorts in Florida. A telephone call claims you have won a free holiday and then asks for your bank details to collect £150 for administration costs for sending the tickets, etc.

Unfortunately, these calls are not filtered by the Telephone Preference Service as they come from America.

Could you please warn residents, clients, neighbours, friends that this is scam and should not be actioned.

11 August 2008

Patrick Burridge, our District Councillor, received the alert below and has suggested that it might be of interest to Neighbourhood Watch participants:

An Alton family was recently burgled because they did not double lock the front door. As a result the burglars obtained access by inserting a device to hook the latch to open the door. Because car keys were easy to find, cars, a computer and other items were stolen.

According to the Police, it seems like an Eastern European gang may now be operating in the area who previously targeted Reading. There may be a connection to Polish tradesmen who "case" suitable targets when doing their work.

The burglary occurred whilst the family were asleep upstairs. Fortunately no-one was attacked.

13th JUNE 2008
Hanging Baskets

There was a theft of a hanging basket from a property in Brightstone Lane on Monday 9th June. A man stopped his white van outside the house, unhooked the basket, ran back to his car and sped away.

8th JUNE 2008
Rogues and Rogue Traders

"---for evil to flourish -----good people do nothing ---", or words to that effect, by Edmund Burke, I think.

The information about hotel magnetic key cards carrying personal details is apparently to be part of "a misinformation wave". Signed 'Police Records', it didn't say it was the 'Pasadena Police, California'!! There is a lot more about it on the website www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/hotelkey.asp or search "hotel key cards urban legend". (thank you Douglas for these).You can read through this, or ask a 'web' neighbour, and decide for yourself what you want to do with your magnetic key card.

This does not apply to Mr O'Hallaran, arch burglar, who is still at large and flourishing his particular brand of evil around the area, despite several good people doing something, mainly keeping an eye open for someone of his description, medium height, dark hair swept back, acting suspiciously. There have been three such sightings in the village, all reported promptly to the police, but so far no success in catching the blighter. Hopefully by the time this bulletin goes out, O'Hallaran will be safely inside one of Her Majesty's luxury prisons.

How does he select his victims? If we are away, most of us have a neighbour to keep an eye on our home, move the bins, park a car on the drive, draw curtains and deal with papers and post. Hopefully in our village, everyone has a friend to do this for us, but a recent survey brought up the following intriguing statistics:-
33% of neighbours speak to each other only once a year or less; 21% have never spoken; 6% say a timid hello once a year; 7% have spoken only once, when they first moved in; only 5% chat every day; 14% are best friends with their neighbours. I'm sure Farringdon Neighbourhood Watch area is a whole lot friendlier than this.
Householders with Type B (audible) alarms should not forget to give key holders names to the police. Alton Police Station has forms, or use the website, www.hampshire.police.uk

With the approach of summer, Hampshire County Council Trading Standards warn us of an increase of rogue traders and cold callers. They can be plausible, persistent and aggressive, wear uniform, or purport to represent a charity. They recommend that we should ask for an ID and check them out before letting them into our homes.

Accuread	0800 393 499
Atlantic Electric and Gas	0870 013 2080
British Gas	0845 966 8866
BT	0800 321 999
Countrywide Gas	01386 757333
London Energy	0845 603 9261
Npower	0845 601 1102
Powergen	0500 240 500
Scottish Power	0800 400200
Southern Electric	0800 622 838
Southern Water	0845 278 0845
Transco (to confirm gas supplier)	0870 608 1524

Trading Standards would like details of spurious callers passed on to them, 01962 833620. Should anyone feel threatened, call the Quick Response Team, 01962 833666. Their Scambusters Team offer a particular warning about tarmac layers who have been cold calling and ripping-off victims.

Your Neighbourhood Watch will endeavour to pass on alerts and anything pertinent to safety, to everyone as promptly as possible. You should receive these either directly or from the co-ordinator in your area, so you will know who he or she is should you need to contact them. The easiest and quickest way for us to communicate is by email, and if you would like to join the email list, please inform your local co-ordinator. Email is kept strictly confidential and used solely for NHW matters. If for any reason you are not hearing from us, please contact your co-ordinator or myself. My phone number is in the Village Magazine. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive communications from NHW.

There is no co-ordinator at present for two areas:- Gosport Road, from the crossroads towards Tisted & Crows Lane/Eastview Gardens.
Volunteers would be welcome. Residents who are on the email list should get communications promptly, but households requiring hand deliveries may be delayed, except where an arrangement with an email neighbour has been made.

Are you going on holiday? Some hotels give their guests a magnetic key card instead of a key for opening their room door. The magnetic strip on the card contains not just the code to open the door, but also the guest's details, name, address, arrival and departure dates, credit card number etc. These details are not erased until overwritten with details of a new guest . Until then they can be copied on a scanner and misused. Don't throw in the nearest waste paper basket. Take home and destroy, or swipe with a small magnet several times and try in the door before handing in. Thank you Phil and Andrea for this tip.

Finally, the Office of Trading Standards warn us to beware of scams, such as Fake Lotteries, Prize Draw Wins, Bogus Psychic Predictions, (the mind boggles), Get Rich Quick Investment Cons and Miracle Health Cures. Three million people a year are falling victim to these scams.
Foreign Lotteries are a particular problem at the moment, sometimes using genuine names, 'El Gordo', 'La Primitiva', 'El Mundo', 'Euro Millions'. Anything that asks for personal or bank details, or a cheque, is suspect.

Iain Ross

8th March 2008
Blue Pickup Truck Hall Lane

On Wednesday night 5 March at about 6pm the Occupant of a house in Hall Lane noticed a very large midnight blue pickup truck in her drive with lots of long ladders in the back. When she opened the front door to see who it was the driver and passengers drove off at high speed turning right into the village. Unfortunately as it was dusk she was unable to read the number plate.

She at first assumed it was the scaffolding company who are working on chimneys at the house but on checking with the company the next day she was told by them that they had not been to her house and that, in any case, their vans are all white.

She reported the incident to 101 on Thursday.

If you see a pickup truck matching the above description please take note of the location and number plate and advise the police immediately. We would also appreciate being advised.

28th February 2008
101 Non Emergency Number

We have received the following email from Sue Gibson, Force Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator, Community Safety Department, Hampshire Constabulary (tel: 0845 0454545 ext 603290):

“As you may be aware there was some talk that the 101 non emergency number was being discontinued however I am delighted to report that the number will be in use until at least March 2009 when it will be reviewed.

Some 350,000 calls have been made to the number”.

Reporting Email Scams

Hampshire County Council Trading Standards Service have advised us that any Hampshire resident can notify them of email scams at the following email address: Scamnesty@hants.gov.uk

You need not worry if you find it difficult to differentiate between an email scam and spam (see below) – they will accept notifications of either. As with postal scams they are recording these for intelligence purposes and will only contact you if they need further information.

If you have fallen for a scam and/or need specific advice or help you should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or via their website at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

Update on Robbery in Church Road

Detective Constable Martin Hayward has given us the following update on the recent burglary in Church Road which was advised to you on 12 February:

“The suspect, Peter O'Hallaron, has not yet been found and is probably keeping his head down due to the 'Wanted' posters. Several Police Forces are looking for him. The picture in the posters is an old one taken when he was younger. It is thought that he selects his targets by looking for houses that seem to have no one at home so it is strongly recommended that you always try to give the impression that someone is at home."

12th February 2008
We have received the following email from Richard Terry,
Neighbourhood Watch Manager, Waverley, at Farnham Police Station:

I have been asked to circulate the following which is about an increase in crime, mainly involving vehicles:

There has also been an increase in burglaries using garden tools and ladders either left in the garden or in an insecure shed or garage; a wheel barrow is a useful thing to carry stolen goods in as well as being used for weeds and lawn mowings.

If you have a ladder and it is not being used, please put it away and/or chain it to something to stop it being used to gain access to the upper floors of houses where the windows have sometimes been left open
A small number of burglars have used this method to gain access over the last week or two.

Over the last two days we have also noticed an increase in vehicle related crime particularly in the more rural areas. These have included thefts of sat-nav devices or anything else left in the car which has been left on show, such as handbags, sat-navs, CDs, you name it, they will pinch it.

Other burglaries have resulted in the theft of car keys and the cars then being stolen.

We would like to remind everyone of the need to remove valuables from their vehicles when left and to not leave vehicle keys on display inside homes such as lying on kitchen surfaces in view of windows.

We would also like to draw everyone’s attention to a suspicious vehicle seen in the Elstead area which is described as a silver (or grey) coloured M registered BMW saloon.

29th October 2007
Blue Van Linked to TV Burglaries

On 21 October we issued a circular alerting you of a royal blue van which has been circulating in Surrey and Hampshire that is linked to a spate of thefts of flat screen televisions.. An enterprising member of our neighbourhood watch scheme has obtained details of the vehicle. It is a Nissan Primastar, licence plate no. EO 04 MXF

2nd July 2007

The village has had another burglary. A house on The Street was broken into last week while the residents were away. I have heard that it is thought that it happened on Thursday 28 June and that the burglars forced their way through a front window and stole electrical goods including a TV. The house has a burglar alarm but either it was not heard or it did not work. I cannot confirm the details because it is information received second hand through an unofficial source.Another window in the village has been broken, thought to have been with a catapult. This happened on Wednesday 28 June at about 7:30 pm. at Churchers on Church Lane when the residents were out. This incident was advised to me by the residents.

Webmasters Note: The alarm was armed (as always) and set off by the intruder/s but apparently no-one heard or responded. The external alarm box was flashing to indicate the alarm had been triggered but either no body noticed this or didn't realise the significance of the signal.

If you are a victim of any kind of crime in or around your house please advise the police and also let me know immediately so I can pass on the information to the village Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator, Iain Ross (588-349).

Useful phone numbers:
Alton Police Station 0845 045 45 45
Emergency 999
Crime Stoppers 0800 555 111
Hampshire Trading Standards Quick Response Team 01962 833 666

25th June 2007

On Saturday evening on 16th June at around 8pm, the residents of Belloms Cottage heard a sharp ‘hammer on nail’ type of noise. They went outside the front of the house to see where the noise had come from, but could not find anything. They found later that an upstairs window pane looking onto Crows Lane was broken and assume this was the noise that they heard. The break looks like it was caused by an air rifle pellet but they did not find one (it could have bounced off). They reported this to the police.

The residents of Bramblings at the opposite end of Crows Lane have now informed me that they also had a window broken on the same evening at around 9.30 pm.

Please advise me if you know of any other similar incident.

Burglary

There was a burglary at Stapleys Farm on Monday, 11 June. An air gun and a horse saddle were stolen. The police have visited the scene of the crime.

Co-ordinators Bulletin 03/06/07

There has been a spate of incidents recently, burglaries in The Street and Church Road, a break-in at Lower Woodside Farm and an attempted break-in at a house in Gaston Lane. There have been sightings of people acting in an unusual manner, two of them unconvincingly claiming official business, and two vans, whose drivers acted rather oddly. All these were reported to the police, although there has been no feed back to date. If something arouses your suspicion, the police appreciate a good description or a vehicle registration number.

Apparently doorstep crime, distraction burglary, wheelie bin thefts and beauty spot car park thefts are on the increase. The HCC Trading Standards Service have received complaints from people who have lost money to "Racing Tipster scams". So called "racing pundits" claim to have information on the horses, and are happy to relieve anyone of their shirt. And keep a close watch on your credit cards. If you are unwary, yours can be substituted with a duff one after a transaction, or even photographed using a modern mobile phone. Whatever next! Thank you for that one Douglas.

In a joint initiative between the Hampshire Constabulary and EHDC, a newly formed Community Safety Team was due to launch a Safer Neighbourhoods Model, worryingly on April Fools Day. The aim is "to bring police and partner agencies to be more closely engaged with local people". It sounds rather like FIG, our parish Rural Safety Initiative. PCs Helen Murphy and Jo Utting are already producing a monthly Newsletter, which I will try to put on the village website. If you don't have access to this but wish to see the newsletter, please contact myself, or your local NHW co-ordinator.

We need a replacement Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator for Shirnall Meadows. Any volunteers? It is really just a matter of receiving the odd report, warning, or information, usually from the police or our own network, and passing them on to households in your area. Word of mouth, telephone, notes through doors, or e-mail, whatever is easiest. Please ring me at 588349.