WALTHAMSTOW: Residents vow to set up Neighbourhood Watch (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAMSTOW: Residents vow to set up Neighbourhood Watch

5:45pm Friday 6th June 2008 in

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FED-UP families have vowed to fight back against crime in their neighbourhood.

Stabbings, muggings, burglaries and car theft have become a regular occurrence in Walthamstow Village.

And now people living there have decided to set up Neighbourhood Watch groups, report more crime and get to know their neighbours.

They also want to put up signs listing police phone numbers in pubs, shops and on park notice boards.

They hope that such mesaures will enbable them to keep an eye on each other's property when they are away, prompt better police action and make them feel safer.

Residents could also see their insurance premiums fall as a result.

A group of 50 residents of Walthamstow Village decided to fight back against the criminals targeting their neightbourhood at a meeting held in The Castle Pub, Eden Road.

Everyone at the meeting signed up to an email list which may turn into a special website, which Wingfield Road resident Colin Parr offered to set up.

Meeting organiser and pub landlord Roger Carter said he did not want the get-together to focus on negative viewpoints, like a similar meeting where police were slammed.

But people still criticised them, not least because none had turned up to the forum, despite six attending another event half-a-mile down the road.

Paul Klein of Folkstone Road, Walthamstow, said he had been a victim of crime twice and reported it to police, but had only got a letter in return. The next time he did not bother.

"The community support officers are a waste of time," he said. "They go home before it gets dark. When I come out of Walthamstow station at night I'm nervous walking home and I'm a grown man."

Several people said they did feel safe, however.

"I didn't feel safe when I first moved in," said one woman. "But when I got burgled everyone was absolutely fantastic. We've now got a little pact that we'll look out for each other.

"I've started to feel safer just because I know people."

Another newcomer to the area said he also thought it was much safer than Kilburn, where he used to live.

Ben Marcus of Eden Road said: "I feel amazingly safe. There was a guy recently beheaded near me and they found his corpse behind Sainsbury's. That kind of thing doesn't happen around here."

To contact Mr Carter email him on jimbomck@hotmail.co.uk.

What do you think? Is Walthamstow Village a dangerous or safe place to live?