Council to spend £333k to tackle crime in town

More than £300,000 will be spent on making Victoria ward in Hartlepool safer

A council will install spiked anti-climbing roll bars on top of alley gates to try and cut down on crime.

Up to £333,0000 will be spent by Hartlepool Borough Council to improve safety across the town's Victoria ward.

The area “experiences some of the highest levels of crime and disorder" in Hartlepool, according to council documents.

Repairs and refurbishment works will also be carried out to the 36 gates, some of which have been “vandalised and had meshing cut or damaged”.

The plans were approved by the council after an application was submitted earlier this year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The application said the Victoria ward was plagued by “particularly high levels of residential burglary, driven by drugs misuse”.

The cash allocated for the project forms part of £1m awarded last year to the Office of Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner, as part of the Home Office’s £43m Safer Streets Fund.