THE season of goodwill is seeing shops in Abergele work together to stop them falling victim to thieves.
A new Abergele Shop Watch scheme has been launched during the Christmas shopping period, allowing participating stores to use a radio link to alert each other and the police about the presence of known shoplifters and other acts of anti-social behaviour seen in or around their stores.
Established by the Abergele Neighbourhood Policing Team, the scheme has so far attracted businesses of varying sizes in Abergele and Pensarn and is set to expand further in the New Year.
One of the participating stores is Diskos, which moved into the former Woolworths store on Market Street in the summer.
Jane Whitmore, store manager, said: “I believe this will help increase safety for our staff and allow us to feel secure so it has to be a good move. It is a particularly busy time at the moment.
“This is a good thing for Abergele as it would be for any town. So far it has been useful and it is good that we can warn each other of any potential problems.”
The scheme has been launched by the town’s Neighbourhood Policing Team and has so far seen about 15 shops join.
Community Beat Manager Pc Sharon Thorogood said: “A major positive is that we have different sizes of stores joining the scheme. As well as larger stores such as Tesco and Ethel Austin, we also have smaller shops signed up.
“We can provide information and support the shops who are participating. This is helping bring the community together and will be our way of tracking those who have previously been convicted of shoplifting.”
The project has also attracted Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan, with shops able to alert the school of pupils entering their stores during school hours.
PCSO Sally Mulvaney, who launched the scheme with Pc Thorogood, said: “There is very much a community spirit in place through Shop Watch. We hope this will help with tackling shoplifting and bring many benefits to the town.
“Although there are not major issues with shoplifting here at present, there may have been some who saw Abergele as a soft touch who will now find things more difficult.”
l Do you believe the Shop Watch scheme will benefit Abergele? Are you a shopkeeper who would feel their store was safer through being part of the scheme? Have your say on our website at www.rhyljournal.co.uk