NEW ideas to fight crime in the upper dale are to be explored during a meeting between residents and police.
The meeting at Utass (Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services) offices in Middleton-in-Teesdale on February 28, follows a spate of burglaries on farms and properties last autumn.
Charlotte Fletcher, from Utass, said: “It is a follow up to the session which took place last September. It was organised following the rise in thefts from farms and residents in and around the dale.
“It will be another opportunity for residents to raise further concerns and also find out what has been done since the last meeting.”
Among the ideas suggested at that meeting was the installation of CCTV cameras along some routes in upper Teesdale. It was also confirmed that six people from Darlington had been arrested in connection with a number of thefts and burglaries.
The arrests were made when police reacted to a report of suspicious activity in Baldersdale. The meeting starts at 7pm and a hot supper will be provided,
To book a place contact Utass on 01833 641010.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
