Efforts to stop town centre anti-social behaviour

The scheme aims to reduce anti-social behavour in Northampton town centre

Town centre businesses have welcomed the relaunch of a system designed to stop anti-social behaviour.

The Northampton Town Anti-Social Behaviour Reporting Scheme (NTARS) is an information-sharing system between shops and police.

In the last four months, businesses have collated details of more than 100 offences through the programme.

Mark Mullen, from the Northampton Business Improvement District (BID) said it allowed police "to identify, arrest and prosecute known offenders".

Mark Mullen said it was encouraging to see BID members using the system

More than 200 members of the BID have signed up to the programme.

Through the system, 97 known offenders have been identified, Mr Mullen said.

He said: "Members are building character profiles to establish patterns of offending, giving police the chance to be proactive in their approach to crime prevention.

"All of us want to see the town centre prosper and be a place where visitors can come to shop or enjoy a meal out with friends in a safe and welcoming environment."

West Northamptonshire Council have several schemes in place to improve Northampton town centre

Sixty town centre businesses also have linked up with a named police officer as part of the "Cops Adopt A Shop" campaign.

Insp Beth Warren, of Northamptonshire Police, said: "Since we began our targeted work in the town centre, we've seen a significant decline in anti-social behaviour incidents."

She added that the police, BID, West Northamptonshire Council and other agencies would share information "about how we can all work to keep Northampton a safe and welcoming place to work, live, shop and visit".