PAWS January – The Storyteller

John Lilley – The Storyteller
Forty-one members and two guests enjoyed the speaker at our meeting in January.  John Lilley is a writer and narrator of stories, and entertained us with tales of his early years training to be a doctor.  On one occasion, while observing an older doctor, he was amazed at the treatment given to a patient.  He was obviously a little tired of the same lady coming in week after week with ‘complaints’.  He got his largest syringe and took a little blood out of the lady’s left arm and put it back into her right arm, then told her that her blood had been circulating the wrong way round, but that now it would circulate in the correct direction.  She went away very happy at the solution to all her problems!

Another story involved an old spinster who lived in Wallflower Cottage in a little village.  He was curious about the name of the cottage, and after several visits discovered the reason.  The lady had been engaged to a man in her early years until she discovered that he had several ‘girl friends’ and was very annoyed; unfortunately he died very suddenly before they could get married, but not before he had willed everything he had to his fiancé.  After his death she bought the cottage and had lived there happily for many years.  She then slipped into the conversation with John Lilley that the oil of wallflowers was a deadly poison in the correct amount.  He put two and two together and made a swift visit to the police to tell all!

The stories and poems that John read were very amusing and told with great expression and feeling.  We all agreed that we should invite this charming gentleman another time to tell us more stories.

Our next get together is on 25th February when D. Chignall will talk to us about Beatrix Potter & The Lake District. Currently membership is closed but visitors are very welcome at the cost of £3.50 which includes refreshments.

Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary of the home page of the Winstread 100 website.  If you would like further information about P.A.W.S please ring one of the following committee members: Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson 01206 735505.

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Secure your outbuildings

thiefAt the recent Parish Council meeting (see draft minutes here) councillors heard from Essex Police  about a  spate of thefts and attempted thefts from sheds and outbuildings in and around Peldon.  Possibly coincidentally, there have also been reports from around the area of folks selling equipment from the back of vehicles – in particular chainsaws and the like from the back of a small black van.  

Police ask that if you sport any suspicious behaviour like this to please call them on 101 with as many details as you can provide.

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PAWS September – Paragon or Prude

Sheila Gray – President with Dr. Maureen Scollen
Sheila Gray – President with Dr. Maureen Scollen
After what seemed like a long summer break (if you can call it a summer) 34 members and 4 visitors attended our September meeting when Dr. Maureen Scollen came along, wearing a copy of an early women’s police uniform, to tell us all about “Paragon or Prude”.  With such an intriguing title it certainly lived up to expectations, as Maureen kept us very entertained with a mixture of stories of her life as a serving police officer and also the history of women police officers.  It really was an excellent evening.  We are hoping now to organise a trip to the Police Museum at Springfield of which Maureen is a trustee.

Our next get together is on October 23rd when Oggie Weldon is our speaker, her subject being “Hats For All Occasions”.  Membership is currently full but visitors are welcome at a cost of £3.50.

Details of all our meetings and speakers can be found on the diary on the home page

of the Winstred 100 website.  If you would like any further information about P.A.W.S. please ring any of us on the following numbers:  Alice Holmes 01206 735510, Jane Banks 01206 735004 or Jane Anderson on 01206 735505.

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Essex Police 101 & other updates

Essex Police Authority - bannerFrom July 1st, Essex Police becomes one of the first forces to switch to the new, national, police non-emergency 101 telephone number (replacing 0300 333 4444).  You can use this number if you need to contact Essex Police about any non-emergency crime issue, to contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team, to seek crime prevention or personal safety advice, contact your nearest police station or to speak to us about any other non-emergency issue.

Please be assured that the emergency 999 number remains. unchanged and should continue be used if you have an emergency

Essex Police is currently undergoing a major change programme in order to save money, whilst continuing to provide a first class service to the public, and has already begun to make positive changes. The views of those who visit, live or work in Essex are extremely important to Essex Police and Essex Police Authority to enable them to take this programme forward and they would therefore be grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to answer the questions in their public on-line survey.  To do this, please go to www.essex.police.uk/authority and click on the Reform Survey link which will take you into the survey, or go directly to www.surveymonkey.com/s/7GSFLG5. This public survey is open to everyone and they are committed to seeking the views of as many people across Essex as they can and hope representation will be wide and varied. So, if you know of someone who you think might be interested in having their say and making a difference in their community, could you please take a moment to pass these details on to them and ask them to do the same with their contacts?

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PAWS – July Search & Rescue Report

matt-cloke

37 members and 4 visitors attended our June meeting when Matt Cloke, Chairman of Essex Search and Rescue, came along to tell us all about this worthwhile charity. He explained that it was run by a highly trained and experienced group of volunteers who came from all sorts of backgrounds and work alongside the police to help search for high risk and vulnerable people that go missing in Essex and the surrounding area.   We were surprised to hear that every year this is some 5,000-6,000 people.  They receive no public funding but manage on donations, street collections, grants and the lottery.  Their most recent involvement was with the Steven Reis case in June this year, a local Rowhedge man, which involved 500 man hours over 6 days covering some 375 acres of land but resulting tragically in his body being found by a member of the public.  Matt was very obviously passionate about his work and was very interesting to listen to.

Our next meeting is at 7.30pm on July 26th when we will be having our annual Social Night. This year’s theme is “Great Britain Evening” and we will be having music and singing provided by Helen Abbey and her accompaniment and suitable refreshments.  There will also be a prize for the best hat!  Membership is full but visitors are very Welcome, at a cost of £5.00 for July’s evening, by contacting any of the following committee members.

If you would like any further information about P.A.W.S. please ring any of us on any of the following numbers. Alice 01206 735510, Jane 01206 735004, Julia 01206 735053 or Sue 01206 735212.

 

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Fuel Thefts

fuel-theftIn the face of rising fuel prices Essex Police are concerned that an already endemic problem of fuel theft, particularly from rural buildings, will only get worse if steps are not taken to reduce them.  Whilst they will be doing their bit to apprehend the perpetrators, they have put together a comprehensive leaflet outlining steps you can take yourselves to help reduce the prospects of it happening at your home.  The leaflet, which can be downloaded from this site here, addresses the following topics:

  • siting of your oil tank,
  • control switches,
  • padlocks,
  • oil level guages,
  • security lighting,
  • defensive planting,
  • securing the tank, and
  • closed circuit TV.
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Peldon Metal Thefts

Partially stolen road sign
Read more by clicking link on left
There has been an increase in metal thefts in the area recently including a number of recorded incidents in the Peldon area. Local police encourage everyone to take appropriate security measures.  They would also be grateful if any sightings of suspicious persons and vehicles (index numbers if possible) can be passed to the local neighbourhood policing team.

A little web research quickly shows that metal thieves are not only targetting obvious sources such as roof leading and copper lightning rods, but also less obvious sources such as telephone cables, road signs and bus shelters.  The picture shows a partially stolen road sign near Writtle – the report it comes from is worth a read.

Please call the Mersea police mobile 07966 197 265 or 0300 333 4444 non emergency with any information or concerns.

PCSO 70220 ADAM RYDER

WEST MERSEA NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING TEAM.

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Work together to combat flytipping

Fly-tipping in a stream
Fly-tipping by road or water-side is unsightly and harmful to wildlife
Colchester Borough Council and Essex Police need residents’ help to crack down on fly-tipping in the local area.

Rural areas around Colchester have suffered significant amounts of fly-tipped refuse and waste, which is dumped illegally and is spoiling the environment.

Although fly-tipping in Colchester has declined in the past year, outlying areas have remained hotspots for such activity, and is something that both the Police and the Council are working hard to tackle and enforce.

Residents are encouraged to be vigilant and inform the Council of any fly-tipping in their area, or to report any suspicion of fly-tipping activity.

We are now also asking for members of the public to take details of any vehicles, particularly tipper and flatbed lorries, carrying waste and to report them immediately to the council on the number below,  please include the type of waste being carried, time, day, date, registration and ideally any person(s) seen at the time.

Although the act of fly-tipping may not be witnessed, the Council is still able to investigate any reports of vehicles carrying waste, ascertaining if the owners have the correct and legal paperwork in place to do this.

Any person identified carrying waste illegally may be issued with a £300 fixed penalty notice or prosecuted which carries a maximum fine on conviction of £5000.

Dumping waste where it is not allowed, or allowing others to do so, is a criminal offence. You could face a very large fine or even be sent to prison if you fly-tip waste on land that does not have a license to receive it. It not only drains resources provided by the council in order to clean it up but has been responsible for several near misses with vehicles nearly ending up in ditches on the dark back roads trying to avoid it.

If you are hiring someone to dispose of waste on your behalf, check that the company or person you give waste to have a license to carry it – if the waste is dumped illegally, you could still be liable for prosecution. Protect your environment and help us to take action.

From Shane Taylor Colchester Borough Council Street Services, “Colchester Borough Council will not tolerate this eyesore. I strongly encourage residents to find out how to dispose of your waste correctly, as well as help us take action on fly-tippers by being vigilant and reporting any incidences of fly-tipping in your community.”

Local Police Officers will be looking for potential carriers and suspicions of fly-tipping activity, but it is hoped that through residents’ reports and noted activity, the Council and the Police can develop an intelligence system to spot potential patterns in fly-tipping activity in the Borough.

To report any incidences of fly-tipping in your community, contact (01206) 282700 or email [email protected].

To contact Pc Mel Wilson – 07966 197 404

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Police Update – January 2011

sx-pol-newsBirch and Layer

Birch and Layer is part of the Essex Police Colchester district and covers the Parishs of Birch, Layer Breton, Heckfordbridge, Hardys Green, Smythes Green, Layer De La Haye, Messing, Salcott and The Wigboroughs.

Crime recorded for the Winstree area has seen roughly a 13% decrease compared to this time last year.

Winstree is still a very safe place to live and PC Mel Wislson is sure it will continue to drop.

The main crime for the rural areas continues to be Burglary to out buildings and sheds, PC Mel Wilson would like to remind people to look at their security at home particularly to these areas as things such as bikes, power tools etc are expensive to replace.  If you make it hard for the criminals to access your shed they are more likely to move on than bother with yours, these crimes normally only take minutes or seconds to commit.

PC Mel Wilson would also like to remind people that if they see a person or vehicle acting suspiciously to take as much detail as possible such as index plates, colour, description of people and direction of travel and call police immediately. We would rather come out to a false alarm than not be called at all.

OIL THEFT

With the present climate of rising fuel charges and spate of cold weather we have seen an increase in the amount of recorded thefts of oil from properties in the Colchester area particularly the rural villages. Please review your security regarding this, if advice is needed please do not hesitate to contact PC Mel Wilson.

If you have any information which is not an emergency please contact PC Mel Wilson on 07966 197404.

Neighbourhood Action Panel

  • 4th May 2011 19:00 – 20:00
  • The Old Crown Public House, Lodge Road, Messing, Colchester

sx-watchEssex Watch Administrators communicate crime information between watch schemes, the Neighbourhood Policing Teams, the extended policing family and volunteer groups.

If you have information about a crime please contact your Neighbourhood Policing Teams on one of the relevant numbers above or contact Barbara Knott, Essex Watch Administrator , Essex Police, Eastern Division / Colchester , 0300 3334444 ext 10619, mobile 07814672340, [email protected].

For further information www.essex.police.uk/essexwatch

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Police issue heating oil theft warning

Typical oil storage tank

Our neighbourhood Community Police Officer, Melanie Wilson has warned us that there has been a worrying increase in reported theft of heating oil in rural areas.  Certainly there has been one known and one suspected theft of oil in Church Road, Peldon.

Please look at the security of your tank.  Consider fitting a lock without delay.  If you need advice contact Melanie.  She will assist you or will put you in touch with the Crime Reduction Officer Colin Stiff.

Spread the word among your neighbours and if you see anything suspicious get in touch with Melanie straight away.

Contact details:

Melanie Wilson
PC 70930
Birch and Layer Neighbourhood Constable
Essex County Fire & Rescue Service Fire Station
63 Church Road Tiptree
Colchester Essex
CO5 0SU

External: 0300 333 4444

TIPTREE MOBILE: 07966197404

Email: [email protected]

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