Police in plea to prevent break-ins in Haworth (From Keighley News)

Police in plea to prevent break-ins in Haworth

7:00am Tuesday 30th October 2012 in News By Miran Rahman

Two house burglaries and a spate of thefts from Main Street shops are among latest crimes committed in and around Haworth.

The law and order update for the area covering early September to mid-October was presented at the latest meeting of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council.

Inspector Andy Croasdale, of the Bingley and Worth Valley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said the shop thefts occurred at six stores in Main Street on Saturday, October 6.

He said officers had arrested a man from South Yorkshire in relation to the offences.

He added his officers also detained a group of three suspects from Keighley in connection with one of the house burglaries. The three are currently on bail pending further investigations. Insp Croasdale said the police had mounted extra patrols, carried out plain clothes work and made several arrests in response to a spike in thefts from vehicles, garages and other outbuildings in the parish.

“Following that, this spike in incidents has dropped off,” he said. “A lot of crime prevention is just common sense. As we get to the darker nights we want residents to make sure their houses look occupied and to keep their doors locked. These people do go around trying door handles and once they find somewhere unlocked they’ll be in to swipe things like car keys.”

He announced that £500 in cash seized from criminals would be donated to Haworth Community Garden. He said the money was available as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

“Since April of this year, in the Aire Valley area, we’ve seized just short of £450,000 from criminals we’ve convicted,” he said. “The largest of these sums was £205,000 from a taxi driver in Keighley who was doing a bit of drug dealing on the side.”

• The parish council chairman, Councillor John Huxley, presented a framed letter of congratulations to two representatives from Haworth Cricket Club.

He explained the club had celebrated its 125th anniversary by winning its league.

“It’s a great achievement for them and it shows that young people from our village can find something positive to do,” Coun Huxley said. “I’d like to thank the club for its contribution to the community.”

• Haworth has a new councillor to represent the village. Members agreed to co-opt Angel Kershaw onto the parish council to fill one of three vacancies.

Coun Huxley welcomed Ms Kershaw into her new role. He told the meeting that the council was still interested in hearing from anyone willing to fill the remaining two seats for Cross Roads.