POLICE in Ferryhill are getting some help from an unlikely source when they launch a week-long series of events promoting crime prevention.

Ferryhill crime prevention and community safety week starts on Monday, July 17, and is being supported by Sedgefield Borough Council, Ferryhill Town Council and the Ferryhill and District Community Safety Panel.

The week is also being aided by offenders working their community service orders who will be putting together information packs for local residents.

Working under the supervision of probation officers, the offenders will complete 6,000 packs containing crime prevention advice which will be distributed to local households in Ferryhill and Ferryhill Station.

And the advice is to be backed up by a number of police initiatives designed to cut crime in the area. The first is a relaunch of the highly successful School Watch scheme, which was first put into place last year in time for the school summer holidays.

Burglaries and acts of criminal damage fell sharply as a result and police are hoping to maintain the trend this year by visiting all the schools in the area to remind them how effective School Watch can be.

Last year School Watch operated solely in Ferryhill and the surrounding area, but this year the scheme has been extended to cover Newton Aycliffe.

Fifteen schools in total, eight in Newton Aycliffe and seven in Ferryhill, will be watched over by people living nearby.

Bicycle marking sessions and crime prevention roadshows have also been organised and local beat officers will be available on a one-to-one basis for any residents who want advice, or wish to discuss any police-related matters.

The full programme of events includes a visit to every school by police on Monday and Tuesday, a crime prevention and community safety presentation at St Lukes Church, Ferryhill, on Wednesday from 7pm.

On Thursday July 20 there will be a crime prevention caravan in Ferryhill Market Place between 10am and 4pm and a crime prevention presentation at Ferryhill Leisure Centre from 7pm.

PC Metcalfe will be holding a surgery at the town's police office between 9am and 3pm on Friday 21 and a free bike marking session at the office will be held between 9am and 3pm on Sunday 23. Cyclists should take proof of ownership.