Police launch 'surgery' days

7:33pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

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An assault and disputes between neighbours were among subjects aired at the launch of a new police office in Oxford.

Barton's neighbourhood policing team hope estate residents will realise it's good to talk at a weekly walk-in surgery, which will give people a guaranteed time when they can chat to officers face-to-face.

The first session was held at the team's new home, in Underhill Circus, on Tuesday.

Surgeries will now be held every Tuesday, between 1pm and 4pm.

Pc Rob Fisher said 10 people had attended the first session, including one man who had been assaulted. He added: "It was a good start. We're hoping that now people know about it, we can increase it to about 20 people or so each time.

"The surgery gives people an opportunity and a place to talk to us about problems which they may think are insignificant, but are important to us.

"It will be things like antisocial behaviour with kids playing in the street - things which aren't serious offences but irk people and cause them a little bit of discomfort in their lives.

"I can guarantee we will have neighbour disputes, because we always have neighbour disputes - but if we do get them, hopefully we can stop them escalating."

The police office at Barton Neighbourhood Centre opened in March to allow the estate's police team of one sergeant, three Pcs and four Pcsos to spend more time on patrol in the area.

Similar offices are being opened in Blackbird Leys, Littlemore, Rose Hill and the city centre, but Barton is the first to have a weekly drop-in session for residents.

Pc Fisher said people could talk to officers about things such as mini-motos, housing issues and even litter, as well as reporting crimes.

He added: "We will hopefully get a pretty good response from members of the community. It's something we have thought about for a long while, but we never had the facilities to do it before."

Lisa Pardy, a mother-of-four from Claymond Road, Barton, was among residents who welcomed the new surgery.

She said: "I think the base is a wonderful idea.

"People will probably want to talk to the police about their neighbours, antisocial behaviour and general problems which need to be sorted out."

She said the surgery time did not suit working people, but Pc Fisher said the team would look at introducing evening sessions in the future.