PEOPLE from Salisbury and surrounding areas are being urged to be good neighbours for Neighbourhood Watch Week this week.

Police have held three events to encourage members of the public – particularly in south Wiltshire where there are fewer schemes - to set up and get involved in watch schemes in their area.

Neighbourhood Watch members are encouraged to look out for one another, particularly the more vulnerable, and police are concerned that numbers have dwindled in this area. Insp Nick Bancroft of Wiltshire Police’s Citizen Focus department said: “Neighbourhood Watch is an excellent example of the police and the public working together to find appropriate solutions to local problems.

“It is an invaluable way of building relationships with communities whereby police are regularly provided with local intelligence that may not otherwise come to their attention and local residents are kept informed of any criminal activity in their area and provided with the relevant security advice and information.

“It’s important to stress that it is a two way process and a way in which residents can have a say in their local policing priorities.

“At present, approximately 20 per cent of households in the county are involved in Neighbourhood Watch, however we would like to increase this, particularly in the south of the county where there appears to be an under representation.”

For more information on becoming a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator or member, go to nhw-wilts.org.uk or call 0845 408 7000.